


Spawn of Satan

by ink_quill_pen



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), I swear they are good kids they just need some time to grow, M/M, Ocs are fun to poke with a stick, genfic?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:00:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27949442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ink_quill_pen/pseuds/ink_quill_pen
Summary: Rin has a somewhat balanced life, he goes on missions, gets money, makes food, and survives. He is at peace with both sides of himself, demon and human. Nothing much could get in his way or stop his quick rise in magic. Until the order finds another spawn of Satan. To Rin, this is just another assignment but soon it may turn out to become much more.With a bothersome Mephisto on his tail and a bored Amaimon, how will Rin deal with this bratty kid and the pests known as demon kings?
Relationships: Amaimon & Okumura Rin, Demon Rin & Human Rin, Mephisto&Amaimon, Okumura Rin & Mephisto Pheles, Okumura Rin & Original male Character
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	1. Hello, I hate you <3

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this original story last May, the concept of this story is gold but my old writing is not so I have rewritten it.

The wind rushed and ripped violently around him, dancing through the trees he avoided yet another attack from the Oni, its red claws sheared through the branches destroying even more of the forest.

“I see reasoning won’t work with you,” Rin snarled, jumping down from his high ground. “So I will use power instead. Let’s see how you respect that,”

Blue flames lit at the edges of the clearing, enveloping all the broken and trashed branches. Slowly the flames crept across the grassy field, lingering closer and closer to its prey trapped in the middle. All hope faded for the Oni once it saw the crystal blue dome forming around the edges of the circle, soon to be cylinder. 

“You have two options, come back to the order with me, or be sent back to Gehenna. I promise you the order will not bring harm to you. If you listen to the tamers then we can arrange a deal. You can join me and make this world the true utopia Lucifer can never make,” Rin’s voice echoed around the dome, lulling on the demon’s indecision.

“You are very brave my prince. You have my respect. But I will not be joining you,”

“So be it then,” Rin sighed, letting the flames absorb the Oni. With a small flash, the demon was gone, all that was left behind was the host. Dazed, and hurt as always, but alive; at the end that's all that mattered.

“What's goin-” The human was cut off by a soft shush and was swept into Rin’s arms. The man was easily twice Rin’s size but the Nephilim managed to carry him like it was nothing. Returning to the base camp was easy enough and the volunteer exorcists were quick to aid the human in recovery.

With that Rin bid them adieu and left for his motel. It was an old building that had traces of mold but it was only temporary and Rin would be out of there soon enough. At least this place had wifi and a tv. Rin pushed the faulty door open and recoiled as he forgot to shield his ears from the evil hiss that reeked off the hinges. 

Soon he would be in a nice place for some conference or interview, either way, he wouldn’t be lingering in this undercover dump for much longer.

Walking into the room Rin went straight for the remote and clicked on the Tv,

Breaking News, Everyone’s favorite arch knight comes to the rescue once again. This Friday evening he-

The subtitles rolled on and on as Rin slumped onto a cheap motel bed, exhausted for the manual labor of the day he wished to sleep till noon, just to replenish half of the energy he was lacking.

“Everyone’s favorite arch knight?” Rin scoffed viewing the headline as the blabby news reporter went on and on about his latest reported mission. “It's funny how opinions can change… I bet Arthur would be livid if he saw that. If he was still alive to see that,” 

Time was an interesting thing, it came with so many benefits but so many downfalls. For starters, as you got older the more death you saw, and the more serious people got about everything. As you got older, the more alone you became.

Rin had everything he had wished for when he was younger, except people who surrounded him and spent time with him. He didn’t have friends anymore, everyone was busy with their own lives. Of course, he always met up with them at reunions and he would visit the Suguro’s for the holidays. 

Rin missed seeing his friends every day, maybe he had planned to have a family or something like it by this point. He could find someone to settle down with but he knew it wouldn’t last for too long, humans die too quickly.

He was 16 years out of high school, so what was he? He was somewhere in his thirties, he knew that much. As for the physical appearance he hadn’t aged a day since he broke his sword. He like the demon kings was frozen in time, it was a blessing and a curse.

Taming his inner demon was one hell of a task, but it was worth it. The two were nearly one again, fighting for different but similar enough goals that they could agree for the time being. They were two sides of the same coin, they belonged together and understood each other better than anyone else could. For some time they were both trapped, trapped in a sword, and trapped in a lie of a life.

But none of that was really important at the moment, what truly mattered was what Rin loved the most. Sleep. It was the one thing Rin had constantly in his life, it was the one thing he could rely on above all else. He could not wait for his unwaking world to drag him to the mist of his deepest mind.

An abrupt telephone ruptured his focus and dragged him from the peace of mind he originally had.

Rin lazily reached for the phone and with what energy he had he asked. “Who is it?’

“Um... Mr. Okumura, Sir, we have a report from Vatican headquarters and your presence is needed immediately, requested by the paladin herself,”

“Alright, tell her I will be there in a moment,” Rin groaned, getting up from the bed, and doing a soft pat-down of his outfit to remove all excess dust and dirt he collected from his mission beforehand.

Rin dug into his pockets to find the key Mephisto gifted him, and set it into the lock. With a sharp turn, the door screeched open and Rin was at the Vatican. His tangled and stained hair was more than enough indication that he was worn out from a mission, not to mention the spots of dust he missed on his black attire.

A young exorcist, looking to be fresh from cram school happily led the way to the Paladin’s office, her secretaries were always so bubbly. So young and fresh-minded, at this point, it was a theory of Rin’s that she sucked the energy out of the assistants and that’s how she went about her daily life. She didn’t need food, just the fresh energy from the young souls she corrupted.

The door slid open with little noise and was far more pleasant on Rin’s ears.

“What took you so long?” Shura snapped at the Nephilim, but with one look she could tell he wasn’t keeping her waiting on purpose. “You can have a seat on my couch,”

With a small mutterance of gratitude, Rin slumped onto the couch, the peach sofa tied in nicely to the soft pink walls and it matched the oak desk Shura has set up in the room. The Paladin had some sense of taste thankfully. 

Rin grabbed a hold of the black throw pillow and perched it up in his lap so he could rest his aching neck. 

“So I take it your missions are too much for you?” Shura loved to torment Rin and get his pride agitated, at the moment Rin wasn’t in the mind for witty discussion. 

“Nah, I just finished a twelve-hour shift, I haven’t had anything to eat since the morning and I would like a shower. But, I knew you have my tail and hang it on your mantle if I did that before responding to your summoning,” Rin yawned throwing his head back only to have it slam back into the pillow.

“Maybe you have taken that shower, you are stinky,” Shura stuck her tongue at the Nephilim like a true adult.

“I find your aroma delightful as well,” Rin replied with the smugness he held when in a more active mind.

The door slammed open before Shura could chew into Rin for his witty remark. A familiar lengthy demon king strode into the room with his normal clown attire, his style hadn’t changed much in the past decades.

“You called Paladin?” Mephisto inquiries giving a soft bow.

Shura became very strict with Mephisto once she became Paladin, and rightfully so. The demon king was kept under a tight leash, it made scheming harder for him overall.

“Now that both of you here, I have a mission for you. The order recently acquired a Nephilim that we believe could be a danger. So, I am putting him under your guardianship Mephisto, but Rin you shall manage his care and training,” Shura slipped on her serious tone and Rin lifted his head to meet her glance.

“Who is the demonic parent of the Nephilim?” Rin asked with a tired yawn.

“You could say he is your half brother,”

“Anyone could say anything. Shura, I am not going to believe this from anyone else. Who is the kid's demonic parent?” Rin stood tiredly from his seat and glared at Shura as he spoke.

“His father is Satan,”

A peal of sharp laughter shattered tension that formed in the air, Samael’s glowed with sadistic joy as he heard this. Maybe Shura’s restive guidelines had finally gotten to him, or maybe he was excited to see Rin’s reaction.

Whatever sick joke was in his mind Rin didn’t find amusing, it only took a warning snarl to get Mephisto back into place.

“Shura, is there any way you can keep him safe until the morning? Just so tomorrow Samael and I can get him settled in when I am more awake,” Rin yawned wobbled softly to the side. 

“Satan’s been rather adamant on possessing him and it has already put a strain on our knights to fend him off, so I am afraid you need to take him now,” Shura sounded almost as defeated as Rin, so there was no help in arguing with her. “Mephisto I assume you can have someone escort Axis to his dorms and get him settled in?”

“Of course m’lady,” Mephisto cooed, summoning his hat out of nowhere. At this point, there was no questioning him.

“Watch it,” Shura hisses spinning in her desk chair.

“Well I guess that just leaves sleeping arrangements,” Rin muttered softly looking over to Mephisto.

“You are tiered Rin, I won’t force you into the dorms tonight. But you are bathing before you even think about touching any of my guest rooms,” Mephisto tsked inspecting Rin’s clothes. 

“That’s fair,” Rin dragged himself to the door and walked through it as it opened.  
Mephisto quickly followed after and ended up taking the lead, guiding Rin through the halls. Each turn and step was familiar to Rin but he still had little comprehension of where he was going, he could feel his demonic side itching to get out. 

“Samael, can you wait up for a second. My other side wants to get out and I don’t want him to get lost,” Rin leaned against the wall as he felt the magic ignite in his blood.

“I don’t need a guide,” The demonic voice hissed, boiling to the surface, but Rin still maintained consciousness, he wouldn’t slip away from control until Samael promised to behave.

“Of course Rin. It had been a while since I have last seen that beautiful demon of yours,” Samael purred sliding over to Rin’s side intending to get the best view of the demonic as he could 

“Well that works,” Rin sighed, giving in to the demon and letting it take control of the host.

“I hate Samael don’t leave him with me,” But it was too late for the demon to have the human side stay active.

“I hate you, lead me to the halfling,” Demonic Rin ordered, not wanting to deal with the lustful glances Samael was giving him.

“That's not very nice of you~” Samael growled deeply moving closer to the demon. “I want an apology,”

A sharp pain lit in Samael’s chest as Rin’s claws sliced through the protective organ, getting the demon to recoil immediately. 

Samael let out a yelp as the claws continued to pull down on his stomach, the demonic began hissing as Samael looked at him for any scrap of pity he had to spare.

“Stop, he’s had enough dem,” Rin came back for a snippet, getting the demon to snap out of his trance and focus back on the subject at hand. 

At the reminder, the demon stepped down and went on his way to the new “threat” to humanity. Upon arrival the demon was greeted like his human side, thankfully the demon was well trained and was able to put on the human mask and appear non-threatening.

He maintained a small conversation with one of the exorcists and was lead to a cell. Over the past decade, nearly two the order had gotten better about containment policies and cells, so the once metallic and stone floors Rin knew were refurbished and painted; along with a lingering smell of lemon and rubbing alcohol laid in the air.

“Right this way Mr. Okumura,” Another exorcist spoke up and took lead, they walked further and further into the cells and the appearance of the cells changed significantly, the bars got stronger and stronger each room they passed. 

Magic grew heavily infused with the walls, and five doors down from the end of the hall he could, feel it.

Satan was lingering in that cell, existing as a tormenting spirit rather than in a physical form. He was most bothersome in that form but practically harmless. Then again there was little he could do to hurt Rin as it was.

The exorcist stood nervously and looked to Rin with fear lingering on his face, the demon almost wanted to laugh at pitiful expression. But he refrained, keeping the human facade up as long as he could.

“So I take it you put the kid in your strongest cell, smart move Satan has been getting more dangerous and violent with his actions over the years. We don’t know what we can expect from this kid so stay aware,” Rin explained taking the lead as the exorcist stood in place.

The small complaint made the human glow with pride, it was adorable to see how humans thrived so heavily off of compliments.

The demon made his way to the door, with each step he could feel the magic growing stronger and pouring over him. Satan was powerful but he also was a fool. Satan had no one who respected or even cared for him, and he never trained a day in his life.

Satan had no grasp over his true potential where Rin was growing each and every day, with each mission, each battle with the kings he grew stronger. No cap that could be put on his true power. 

Reaching the door he opened it without the courtesy of a single knock. A thin auburn-haired boy was slumped against the wall, his eyes heavy and puffy. It was a disgusting sight, a spawn of Satan looking so weak and malnourished. Even Yukio was able to maintain a healthy weight, so what had this kid been through to look so silky and pale?

“Hey kid you awake?” Rin cooed stepping forward, the demon cried on the inside for the human side. He was never good with talking to teens, especially sickly looking ones.

The human side was unresponsive.

Great, gone when he was needed the most.

Unresponsive muttering answered him.

“You won't get him to talk, he is pathetically weak and wasn’t able to handle my attempted possession. But I’m sure once you get some meat on his bones and strengthen him up for me he will be a perfect fit,” A demonic giggled in glee, Satan always was a right out bastard. 

“Ah fuck off,” The demon side spat back, taking the kid and throwing him across his shoulder.

“Don’t talk to your daddy that way,”

The word daddy had left a bitter taste in Rin’s mouth not to mention the audacity of the demon god to even insulate that they were family was enough to tick off the demon. 

“If you wanted to be my father you would have eaten your own heart,” The demon took the following silence as a perfect chance to escape, leaving his “father” behind.

He did not require a lead out of the room thankfully as the human had already scampered out of the hall. The demon could not blame him, Satan’s presence was overwhelming to some humans.

It was a quick walk to the exit of the hall, he had no issue slipping out of the containment area. No one questioned the boy flung over his shoulder.

“Um Sir, don’t you think he should contain him better?” The assistant muttered softly, giving a concerning glance over at Rin.

“Nah I think I can handle him. He can’t do much damage even with his demonic strength, there isn’t anything he can to attack that I cannot counter,” Rin boasted with a grin. 

Even though he was stronger than all of humanity combined a single smile from him still mirrored the kind innocence of a child. Or at least, Human Rin did. 

Now it was a matter of finding that disgracefully, unholy, menace who dared bother him from before. Mephisto couldn’t have gotten far from where he was left. His wilting host couldn’t take him far. Even with the slowed deterioration he still had to be mindful of the use of his magic and teleporting inside the Vatican quickly drained magic.

Traveling down the halls his path originated from he quickly stumbled across Mephisto. He propped himself up against the wall in a dramatic lean; a stupid grin covered his face. For the time being the demon could handle Mephisto’s antics, he had a mission and soon enough he would be asleep then his human side could handle the bastard. 

“So I am going to fetch my stuff or?” The demon asked, breaking the silence. 

“I had Belail get your luggage and it is already at the mansion. Since the brat is not conscious at the moment he can sleep in your room,” Mephisto pushed against the wall and stood balanced on his feet

Rin muttered a small thanks and the two went on their way, leaving the condiments of the Vatican. Most humans found the headquarters comforting and safe, but for the two demons, it was nothing short of suppressing. The cold air was ripe and a rather swift shock, but refreshing nonetheless. 

“Ah fresh air,” Rin purred as the night sky sparkled above him. 

“So you find it stuff as well?” Mephisto sparked up a conversation between the two, bring a bit of warmth to the cold air between them.

“Only as stuffy as a hundred-year-old church with too many demon replant shields around it,”

The statement got a soft charred laugh between the two demons, they disregard their part interaction for a fragment of a moment, just enjoying the company they had with each other.

It was deja vu to Mephisto, he for the most part saw no demon as his equal, they were all either above or below him. Talking in power-wise Rin was surely above him in that aspect, but instead, equal on a speaking argumentative oral level.

This demon, it was just as fluent in Rin’s human as the human himself. The two other separate minds worked together in a mangled way, they blended at a point which made them as a being truly authentic. As an authentic demon himself Samael held respect for that, Rin abided by no human or demon rules, he carved his path through his tears and blood and continued.

He was set on a quest and a noble one at that, yet he still managed to have connections, relationships that Samael could never dissect fully. It made him a perfect countering match for Mephisto. Rin could use all he has seen and learn to minimize all the pride Mephisto had collected over the years; meetings across from Rin were already bad enough. Being the second hand to Shura put Rin in a place of power Mephisto would never have, it would destroy too many timelines.

“So where is your vehicle?” Rin shifted the limp body of the kid on his shoulder like a rag doll.

“Rin, if you are going to be in charge of the child I would suggest you handle him with better care,” Mephisto knew of the attitude the kid had and mined it rather much, but he still disliked the way he was held. 

“Ah he’s fine,” Rin scoffed, adjusting the body once more. “It’s not like he is awake for this it won’t matter,”  
“It will matter when he wakes up sore and in a bad mood,” Mephisto spoke from relics of his memory and facts he had from the prior years when dealing with Rin, whereas Rin had personal experience.

Two different perspectives can collide and yet agree so easily.

“I am rather excited to see your way of teaching, after all, you do know from experience what his position is like,”

“So your car, where is it?”

“I’m offended you would think so little of me to suggest I summoned a car for your safe travels,”

As he spoke a burning neon pink limo pulled into the pickup line, an evil smirk spread across Mephisto’s face.

“You are worse than Satan,”

“Why thank you Rin,”

Mephisto wasted no time walked to the door and opening it for Rin, allowing him to toss the asleep boy into the elongated car. The limp body slid onto the seat and easily sat still.

Passive-aggressive or not, the limo was rather helpful. Once Rin was settled in next to the body Mephisto slipped in and took his seat across from Rin. The rumble of the engine started and soon the car started on the journey to the mansion

“So you never answered me. How do you intend to teach him?”

“I haven’t even properly met him, I have no idea what he is like or how he learns best. I also haven’t been able to think with a fresh mind about all of this. I still need to process the thought of another child of Satan. If he exists surely that means there are other kids out there that we have not found yet,” Rin’s speech lulled on and on, rambling all his concerns to an entity who may use it against him. 

Yet, this entity was just as in charge of this kid as he was so it may be best that they were on the same page. Mephisto didn’t seem shocked by the news at all… He probably planned all of this and has it under control; the thought that he didn’t just for a second was far more terrifying than stray satan spawns.

“If Father does have other offspring and we do not know of them then surely it means they are unable to act as a host or hold no significance and if that is the case then why even worry about those? Ever since Shura became Paladin and your debut as arch knight hit the media there has been a spike in exorcists worldwide, if a nuisance Nephilim appeared then they could be done away with. If he did manage to have another spawn and possess it then we would get news from our various spies and demons residing in Gehenna,” Mephisto pulled the small pink cased phone out of his pocket and began scrolling through some webpage or mobile game. The white glow that reflected onto his face could be from either of those programs. 

“I suppose so,” Rin muttered shifting against the cushioned seat.

“I honestly thought you would be more excited to learn of your new brother,” Mephisto tsked, scrolling up on his pocket-sized device.

“He is not my brother. Just like you and Amaimon are not my brothers. None of you have earned that title,” Rin lifted his leg and crossed it over the top of the other.

“Rin I’m hurt, Yukio treated you far worse-” 

“Shut up,” Rin coiled against the seat, looking ready to attack at another mishap.

“Oh, too soon for disrespecting the dead?” Mephisto pushed forward with a sarcastic eyebrow lift.

“Just drop it,” Rin’s voice hitched a growl began in his through in a meager attempt to govern the beings of a sob, this was no longer the demon side talking. Somehow the human side merged or at least slipped into co-consciousness with the demon. Still, the human snapped defensively at the very mention of his late twin.

A soft glow covered Rin’s eyes, the demon side awoke at the distress of his other side. Slowly the demon mangled his way to the front taking control of the host and protecting Rin from further action in this situation.

“Ya know for as much as you claim to hate humans you sure act like one,” The demon growled, baring his fangs at the other; this was the second warning this night and Rin would not spare a third.

“Well, it’s nice to be in your company again,”

“Cut the crap Samael, you slip up once more and I’m eating that butler of yours, and my human won’t even budge to save him,”

“You are foolish to think that I care so much about a servant,”

“Oh, you will once he denounces you,”

“He would never betray me,”

“Even if a stronger demon calls him to do so? Samael you know you have no power over me so chose your next words carefully. If you are stupid enough to speak,”

Mephisto caught an escaping whimper before it grazed his lips. He had a reputation to uphold, he could not break at a threat from such a young demon; especially not in front of his butler. The one demon who was by his side at any time of day and would follow any order he had to give with no questions asked.

“Scared Samael? Good, it seems you are getting smarter,”

Had Rin’s demon always been this mean? Sure he was entitled to some trickery and cruelty but so sudden and strong? It almost felt unfair, he had no way of fighting back to being snide back; he was not talking to an equal, that was evidently clear. Yet not even Lucifer made him feel so vulnerable and exposed.

He hadn't even dreamt about whimpering in thousands of years, yet Rin dared to come here and deconstruct him for no good reason. This was his limo, his money paid for the care of this vehicle and his butler drove it. He was leasing his charity to Rin, not the other way around, he was the one in power, not Rin.

Yet he kept his jaw shut and words buried in his throat as he swallowed down the thought of crying.

Rin let his eyes fall to the window watching the street lamps as they passed through various towns, Samael could only sit awkwardly in the dark as he prayed for the mansion to arrive sooner. 

The road and lights merged as time sped by with no more words exchanged, only the sound of hollow breathing gentle heart thumps filled the video as the world around them zipped by in flash.

The past years were so busy and loud, all the noise and commotion clouded out all meaning of a single action. Everything was so loud and bright nowadays. Everyone was always yelling about someone or something; none of it made any sense. 

The darkly tinted window revealed the landscape, the true cross academy. He was back… for the first time in sixteen years, he saw the old campus. Four years of memories spent there, learning, graduating, and moving on with his life.

The hundreds maybe thousands of different classrooms he never saw or bothered to learn about still laid there unexplored. Over the decade and a half surely some renovations were made to the campus. Maybe on a break, he could do some exploring. Surely no one would question a cat walking through campus.

“Your room is on the second floor, Belial will lead you to your room. I should be ready in the morning around 9 am, we can discuss the child’s housing and schedule arguments then,” Mephisto broke the silence with an explanatory huff. 

Rin debated responding with a thank you but he kept his jaw shut and words to himself. He could forgive Mephisto in the morning, or just never mention this night again. The limo leveled as they pulled into the last hill of the diverse domain.

Mephisto’s mansion loomed over the limo as Rin grabbed a hold of the limp body. The dim moonlight made the rustic building look grim as the shadows grew darker and darker by each second. Looking back across the seat Samael had already disappeared behind the large doors of the entrance to the mansion. 

“Alright Kid, let's go,” Rin yawned, throwing the body off his shoulder and exiting the vehicle. By the way, the moon hung dimly over the horizon Rin could tell dawn would be arriving soon, yet some sleep was better than none.

Rin’s muddy tennis shoes clacked against the cold pavement, it was the only sound in all of the dimly lit world at that moment. 

“Well that makes sense,” The quiet calm environment was the perfect place to have your home, no cars or noise of students bothered you as you tried to sleep. The only bothersome noise would be birds or lost cars foolishly using the turn around at the top hill…

At least from up here, you could see when visitors were arriving; knowing Mephisto it wasn’t very often that he had a guest come to visit.

“My prince there you are. Shall I lead you to your room?” Belial politely approached the guest offering more than Mephisto had in the past hour. Simple human kindness went a long way when talking with others.

“Thank you Belial,” Rin replied, following the finely dressed demon through the stone steps, and into the excessively sized house. 

“My master’s room has not moved since you last were here, but if you need a reminder of the room call me for me and I will show you the way,” Belail took a candle from the lightless void and led Rin through the dark.

A perk of being a halfling was the increased ability to see in the dark, it was still dark but he could at least see shapes. The pair arrived at the room at no burdening time. The neon clock perched on the wall read 1 am.

Rin’s human awoke in the shower, leaning softly against the wall the warm rushing water did away with all the ash and mud he had gotten on his skin through the day. Warm showers always were refreshing. It was in these sensory places like the shower that the true neutralization of demo and human occurred. Water rushing down, heat gainst the cold skin, the small splashes of water as it hit the floor below, the faint taste of minerals from the water, and the basics plain scent all clean beings have at some point.

“How are you feeling?” The demon crept into the mind space.

“Tiered, we need to sleep,” The human shifted moving his back to the water.

“I know that. Do you want to talk?” The demon asked, clawing for some peace within his human. 

“Not right now, soon. We should talk about this soon,” The human shut the demon out, he wasn’t ready to talk.

“Alright, so are you liking the shower?” The demon changed the conversation; if he could do anything to soothe his human the shower would be it.

“Yea, it’s very nice thank you,” The human confirmed the demon’s work, and the small affirmation made it worth it.

“So are you going to brush our tail? You are the one bathing after all,” The demon suggested the ultimatum, his backscratching for the human’s back scratch. 

“I was thinking of it in the morning,” The human yawned, leaning over and picking up the shampoo, lathering it in his hand.

“We both know if we wait that long and so to sleep with it like this it will only be worse in the morning,” The demon sighed, he did not want to spend an hour detangling that ratty tail of theirs.

“Fine, Fine. I’ll wash it and detangle it,” The human whined looking down at the white appendage as he lathered his hair.

“Thanks,” The demon muttered the tiny grateful hiss.

“But you are doing it next time,” Then the human’s conditions came. 

“But it hurts,” It was now the demon’s time to complain.

“It hurts me too but the way you detangle with your claws gets it so much better,” The human added.

“Fine,” The demon reluctantly agreed to the terms, only for the sake of his human.

“Goodnight,” The human chirped washing the shampoo from his hair

“Goodnight human,” The demon replied, settling back into his dream state.

A silent thought of ‘I love you’ passed through the human only to be ignored. It was stupid, his demon would think it was stupid and laugh at him…

“I love you too, stupid human,”


	2. ch 2 Settling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Axis is a grumpy boi that Rin does not want to deal with. Mephisto isn't being too good of a team player either.

With a soft groan Rin awoke, shaking his head he couldn’t help but notice he was no longer in bed or anywhere near a bed.

“Ah, welcome back,” Mephisto’s hands formed a small cup to lay his head on as he peered every so vexingly.

“What?” Rin still washed with exhaustion and the bitter after wash of a sudden switch. “What happened?”

Amidst his burning headache, Rin still managed to spit fire at the demon king.

“He's evil,” hissed his demon, as he squirmed inside their host.

“Mephisto, what did you do to him?” Instincts buried within his body sparked him into action.

“I don’t think he’s talking about me,” Mephisto pointed to the shortest in the room.

The satan spawn was leaning against the counter in a rather stuffy manor. A pout glittered his face as a sneer lit up to try and fend off further attention.

“You mean to tell me he caused the switch?” To say Rin was doubtful was an understatement.

“I would rather not deal with such an annoying brat,” Continuing their original conversation within the safety of their own mind seemed far more appealing

“Oh, so you are just pawning off responsibility? To think I thought you were less shallow” The human retorted.

“Why do you keep looking at me jackass?!” Axis snarled as the arch knight continued his blank stare.

“Well at least I know what side the kid’s bad attitude comes from,” Rin scoffed glancing at the Nephilim.

“I have a name. Stop calling me kid!” Axis snapped, stomping down the foot that he once used for support as he leaned.

“So do I. So I will use yours once you use mine,” In his snide reply Rin couldn’t help hiding his smirk.

“I don’t need to do anything,” Axis was unyielding in his acts of rage and stubbornness.

“And neither do I. It's in your best interest to start making allies within the order, Axis. Or else you are not going to have a good time,” There was no reason other than laziness that the demon could not have stayed for support.

“Why does it matter to you? Why does the order even want me in the first place, I’m not a freak like you,” Axis spat, ignoring his own genetic ties that he shared with Rin.

“Mephisto, would you like to explain why he is now in our care?” It was understandable why the demon left so quickly but also an accomplishment he made it that long.

“Gladly. You see Axis, the blood in your veins holds far more power than you are aware of. You may not have the magical ability of Rin but you are still a compatible host for Father. If he were to get a perfect host such as yourself that would mean the end of the war against demons and humans as we know it,” Mephisto did not care to set things in softly, he would share the truth even if it crushed the boy. “That timeline never ends well for the humans or demons involved, with more blood and death than you could ever dream to cause. If you want to stay in possession of your own body I suggest you listen closely and follow Rin’s every command,”

No more words were spoken as further argument glued itself to the roof of Axis’s a jar mouth as he stood in awe of the verbal lashing he had just endured.

“Now since that is all settled let’s get you settled into the dorms and ready for this upcoming school week,” Rin murmured as he twisted his spine till he heard a satisfying crack of the joints, releasing the pressure that had buried within them.

“Since putting him in the regular boys’ dorms would be too risky he is going to be placed in the old dorm. If you remember Rin, it’s the same dorm where you resided during your time at my academy. It has been abandoned for quite some time and has only been used for exorcism practice. You may want to clean up a bit as you take residence,” Once again Mephisto proved having any remotely high budget was too much trouble for him and apparently was being hospitable.

Well, it was better if the building was to be used rather than be left to rot so there wasn’t much complaining to do.

“Belial will help you gather your things and take you to the dorms. But, before you leave Rin I would like to discuss his classes with you as well as a few other things that need to be taken care of,” Mephisto hummed, taking his leave from the room.

“Belial I would appreciate it if you could let Axis into the dorms. I have a feeling Mephisto and I may need a few hours to discuss our business,” Rin followed after the demon king in a hurried huff.

It didn’t help that as he dragged along through the halls they only seemed to get longer and longer. Dragging on the space between his last spoken words as if they had some meaning. If this were how things were to be as they oversaw Axis’s devolvement, then Rin would gladly take his leave.

Ignited in an act of annoyance his demon slipped through the cracks; Rin didn’t have time to play some stupid little game. “Samael where thE FuCK Are YoU!”

Vicious snarls and barks vibrated against his throat as he twisted his head in a desperate attempt to search for that bastard of a demon king.

“I was wondering how long it was going to take you to get lost,” A soft chuckle lit through his chest as Mephisto appeared from the shadows.

“You have ten seconds to explain exactly why you thought your actions were a good idea,”

“I was just wanting to see how patient you are,”

“I said a good reason dumbass,”

With a grimace, Mephisto sighed, now properly leading the way to his office. “You used to be so nice…”

“And you are still a prick,” The demon huffed following the trail once more.

Arriving upon the office a sense of comfort sunk its way into him. The chaotic furniture and various odd colters items were unnerving but this place was familiar; it held a good deal of memories when he was weaker and Mephisto was his biggest problem.

But even in the pain of those old thoughts, one comforting thing remained, Mephisto could have easily been far worse than he was and yet he only managed to be a mild inconvenience. Now, all his problems were things Mephisto couldn’t conquer or protect him from.

But in this office, he was safer than normal, sure he was always in danger but now the constant pressure seemed to lessen. This office was a break from his younger world. Sure the office was the cause of so many issues or the place he would be revealed to such horrible things, but it was always a controlled and calm place. It was nice, to say the least of the matter.

Taking his old seat at the desk Mephsito mirrored the actions sitting in his desk chair with a happy spin.

“So how are you doing Rin?” Mephisto asked stopping his spin short as he faced the window. “I feel happy and refreshed with the dawn of the new day. I hope you feel the same,”

“Regardless of how I feel I want to get this meeting over with so I can unpack my things and process all of this,” Rin rubbed away a burning within his skull.

“I see. Well before we discuss schedules we should discuss the boy. Axis is a rather odd character don‘t you think?” Mephisto gazed unblocked at the glass, sparing a small glance to the reflection of a rather perplexed Rin every now and again.

“He’s a delinquent there's nothing odd about that,” Rin growled as the lines between human and demon became blurred.

“No, no, I’m talking about how he shuts out everyone. Since being notified of his existence I have done some prying. He never got along with anyone, not any of the kids at the foster homes or the parents either. He had no known siblings and his mother died a day after childbirth,”

That detail would have better to know sooner rather than later.

“So he is a lone wolf. What's off about that?” The blurred lines spoke fluidity; neither fragment was fronting but instead, each was speaking in pure unison.

“The way he addresses people, he doesn't fight because of his feelings of isolation or confusion. He does it because he finds it entertaining, as any true demon would. In a case study done by a school therapist, it was said he has various violent and dangerous outbursts seemingly coming out of nowhere when confronted he claimed it was because he thought it was funny to see the fear in the other kids. As he got older, he was suspended and expelled from six different schools on the account of his fighting. In each fight, at least one kid was hospitalized and no one got out without a bloody nose,” Mephisto’s finger caressed the soft edge of the white papers that laid in his lap.

“What are you saying?” Rin’s head fell to the side like a small puppy as he asked his question.

“I’m saying you are going to need to tame him and curb his destructive nature. Because if you make him mad he will rampage and Satan will have an easier then ever access directly into his body,” Cutting straight to the point once more, the conversation was slowly developing in a pattern.

“Oh,” Rin’s shoes scraped the surface of the carpet as his head darted in shame.

“That's why I am thinking of holding him from school for the next week just so you can establish your command and keep him in line for the most part. Just give him a reason to behave and install the idea that you will keep him in line regardless if he chooses to or not.” Mephisto’s eyes locked onto the reflection of Rin. “Then depending on your progress we can either extend the break or put him into school. Either way, when or if he makes it into my academy, I am going to need you to keep a constant watch over him. You can work on your own tasks of course, but your presences should keep him in line,”

“Three days,”

“What?”

“Give me three days and I will tame him,” Rin’s clarifying statement was wrapped with an unfamiliar tone. His face heald lights that seemed unnatural for Rin; strick, demanding, controlling, and dare say malicious.

“That’s a rather bold statement isn’t it?” A breathy sigh left Mephisto as his lung collapsed under the sudden shock of surprise.

“Well if you are saying what I think you are then I won’t need a week to get him to obey me. To fully tame him it will take time but I need to give him some purpose and responsibility. He needs some goal in order to fully control himself instead of restraining himself. But it will only take me three days to get him to cooperate,” Rin’s nail clicked against the wooden desk as the outline of his powder blue horns became apparent against the fuchsia background.

“What makes you so certain?” the knowing confidence was back but wavered at the soft crack of his voice.

“If he is more demonic than human, and he is a violent demon then he only listens to true force and power. I have no doubt that I can show my true strength to him and do away with his snappy attitude towards me. It will only take a day or two for me to get him ready to exist peacefully in a school environment,” As soon as the solemn words left his mouth the tone of the room shifted.

“And how do you plan to do that?”

“Easy, I give him the same deal I give any demon. Give in or be exorcised,”

“And are you prepared if push comes to shove and you need to exorcise him?’

“Of course, after all, I am ready to do whatever it takes to keep Satan away from humanity, even if that means removing him from his host and making sure no demon can ever possess it again,”

Besides what would Rin care about some bratty, annoying, loud, careless, self-destructive, hellspawn…

Stepping out Axis clenched his teeth, wading through the fresh mug surrounding the sidewalk to the front of the worn dorm.

“I am expected to live in this place?” He whined. “Even the white trash family I stayed with had a better house,”

He was lucky to get a house at all with his attitude. At least Rin was polite to others. Belial kept his own complaints about the boy to himself as it would be far more improper for him to speak out of term. Regardless, the brat deserved some strict discipline.

Hopefully, Rin would whip him into shape, or else there may be problems with more than just Samael’s staff.

“Hey, servant guy! Can you let me in or am I sleeping on the sidewalk?” Axis jabbed a finger at the rickety door. “That is if this place even has beds,”

“Master Rin shall be arriving soon. My master will have equipped him with the key and other important items regarding your stay,” Maintaining his composure as he was made to do.

“Why do you talk so weird? Ya know this isn’t Victorian England right?” Axis mocked the polite tone with his own snobbish rendition. “MaSteR rIn,”

Appearing in a dance of navy flames Rin relieved Belial of his babysitting duties. “Thank you for staying with him while Mephisto and I finished discussing our plans. I really do appreciate your help,”

“Of course my lord,” Belial bowed his head in respect.

“Belial you know I don’t like you calling me lord. You can just call me Rin,” Rin couldn’t hide the tiered smile on his lips as he spoke.

“Of course my prince,” Stubborn as ever he was willing to break protocol just to fire a soft jab at Rin.

Shutting the door Belial fired up the engine and drove away leaving the two antichrists to their dorm.

“So I will brief you on the dorm rules and my expectations once we get inside. Go straight to the dining hall once you get in, I need to do a quick sweep of the building just to clear out any unwanted demons,” Rin explained as he fiddled with the key chain Mephisto provided him with.

“And who put you in charge?” Axis seemingly still had the sass and whiney tone lingering careless in his voice… another thing that would have to be deprogrammed.

“The Paladin who is right under the Grigori who are directly influenced by the goddess. So I was given this order through the chain of divine nobility,” Rin shrugged off the comment sliding the proper key into place.

“And why should I respect that?” Axis stepped forward, trying to catch the foot of Rin’s toes. If he had succeeded not only would he have stepped on Rin’s tones but he would scuff the somewhat new shoes Rin was wearing.

Thankfully Rin avoided both bodily harm and a headache as he took Axis’s own instability and used it to shove him through the doorway. Carefully the door fell against the hinges behind him locking instantaneously.

“Now remember the second-floor kitchen. I expect you to be there once I am done surveying,” Rin reminded as he stalked through the halls.

Rubbing his head Axis stood. His ears still rung as he climbed his way up the stairs and through the hallways. Each dusty door was a carbon copy of the one from before, and each creak of the floorboard seemed to have the same pitch.

“So this palace is so cheap they couldn’t even afford to have differentiating sounds?” Scoffing he continued on his search for the kitchen.

A loose door creaked as a shattered window carried a soft breeze through the hall. “Wow, how taboo,”

Walking to the door he flung it open with lackluster shock as his own reaction. “Oh no, I’m so scared of whatever very real monster is lurking in the shadows,”

Slouching into the chair as he sat, Axis soon felt bored with his dull performance. Behaving already had gotten boring, soon that knight archer thing will be back; surely he will fuel his entertainment, or be a good plaything.

He positioned his legs upon the metal table and pushed off, hanging in an equilibrium of sorts. Balancing on the back legs of the chair. 

The deafening silence was worse, definitely worse. Deafening silence only meant things, something was hunting him or he was being ignored. Then again a busy crowd could mean people were trapped in their own world to care about or pay any attention to him, but it could also mean the crowd could either be screaming at him or cheering him on.

It was attention and he deserved it regardless of otherworldly cares or desires.

The door to the mess hall snapped shut against sending Axis plummeting to the floor. The door swung open once more with an unsatisfied hum crossed Rin’s throat.

“Do you know why this window is br-,” Rin paused as his gaze lingered over to Axis. “Aw did I scare you?”

The baby voice and taunting was crossing a line that Axis would not stand.

“You did not scare me glitter bitch,” No humor or grace would be shared with such a revolting being.

“Well that's not very nice,” Rin tsked as he strolled over to the being. “If I were you I would start behaving better,”

“Well you aren’t, so get the fuck over it, dick,”

Pain rushed through Axis’s spinal cord, as the newly formed crevasse of the wall enveloped him further acting as a temporary stall.

“There are two ways things will continue on from here on out,” Rin began walking over to the trapped being. “You start showing some respect; calling me sir, sparing a small please and thank you, also dropping this revolving language,”

“Or?” Axis snarled his upper lip curling to reveal his pitiful canines as Rin continued to approach. 

“Or I deal with you as I would any stubborn demon and remove you from this host and keep you or Satan from ever possessing it,” Rin bared his own fangs as his pupils wrapped, crimson fading in through the cracks. “Don’t try and challenge me boy I am giving you too much mercy already,”

As agitation spun through Rin in a mangled web of furry his claws tapped against this palm as they prickled for blood. His ears and tail all twitched in an exciting jolt, Axis was just asking begging to be put in his place. He was ready, so ready to latch onto the milky flesh and tear the soft skin away from the meat and bone. His eyes glowed with a fiery passion as he stepped closer.

A startled cry sounded from Axis as he quickly found the emanating aura was far too much for him to handle.

“I’m sorry sir,” He cried.

In a painful gasp, Rin had to swallow all the joy and bolts of energy as he stared down the Nephilim.

Axis’s lip quivered, sliding down his lips to cover the fangs that prefaced his original dare.

“How disappointing,” The bonds came undone and Axis crumbled to the floor in a sobbing mess.

Samael expected them to train this? He was so weak and flimsy. It was surprising enough Satan had not already taken over his body.

Somewhat impressed the human side inwardly scolded his other half for being so brash with the boy. After all, when they were young they were not polite in any meaning of the word. They had no respect for authority and were rather quick to resort to violence.

“Do you really have to be so harsh?” The human cried, always so quick to defend and shield those from the rage and fury of his demon.

“You just saw with our own eyes how quickly we got him to behave. Yes, I need to be harsh with him or else he wouldn’t respect us. You need to remember demons and humans are very different,” The demon spoke, only fueling his own anger.

“I know they are but still… He just reminds me of us when we were younger,” His voice was barely above a whisper.

“Hardly. You were a pushover when it came to others. Gladly helping and doing whatever Yukio or anyone else wanted. Once you put in the effort you were the best kid in that whole cursed school,” The demon crawled over to his other side, if anyone needs to be on his side of things it was surely his own half.

“I am not a pushover,” The human growled posing no threat to his demon.

“You certainly weren’t a pushover when it came to me, and you are not a pushover now. But, back then you were rather lenient about your personal boundaries. It almost seemed like you didn’t have any,” The demon’s steps halted as the human shook.

“And… we got hurt a lot because of… yeah I know,” The cracks in his voice were close to spreading and possibly even shattering.

“Well, we get along now, and keep each other safe so who cares what we did in the past,” Meaning conversation was never his strongest suit but he had learned quite a bit from his human.

Sucking in air the human mashed together a plan. “If I know anything about demons is that if you really want to gain their trust you need to show strength and some empathy as well. If you just continually show strength then they will fear you, but if you teach them that you are just doing what's best then they will not only respect but maybe even care for you,”

“I will take him to his room and get us sorted out. You take your time and rest,” The demon hummed, taking his human into a soft embrace.

Although each was just a fragment of a soul warmth was shared in the gentle hold. They found what comfort they could in each other; through the worst nights and hard days, they could only cling to whatever was closest.

“Alright. Just please be nicer,”

“Fine, I will go easier on him,”

Coming back to reality disappointment hung in the air. Axis stayed in his small miserable pile trying to cower from Rin’s gaze.

“Get up I need to show you to your room,” Guarding his words and tone seemed to soothe Axis a bit better, though it was hard to see a change in emotion within his puffy red eyes.

Nodding Axis stood, fumbling over a small hitch on the wooden floor. Rin was quick to catch Axis by his collar and pull him fully to his feet.

“Th-thanks,” Axis muttered, wiping away the fresh tracks of tears.

It didn’t take long to arrive at the old dorm. It wasn't that far away from the old room Rin used to reside, for the convenience Rin may as well take up inhabitants there once more. The windows, the doors, the walls, and the floor; everything was seemingly the same as before. There was no mention of other life within or around this building. Nothing has changed, nothing was out of the ordinary, there wasn’t a single scratch that Rin did not recall or remember from his time at the dorms.

Had everything really stayed the same? Surely something has to be different. It has been sixteen years since he had stepped foot into this old place. Had it really been out of use for so long? But then again wouldn’t demons have infested the place if that were true?

Sure exorcists did use this place for practice, they must have always returned things to the state in which they found them, that was the only plausible explanation for this.

Nothing more was said as Rin opened the door for Axis. However, a lingering feeling of bitterness resided within him as the door room was stocked full with supplies for the coming school year.

His first year he had to pester Mephisto for an allowance so he could eat. Most likely he was doing this to gain some reaction out of Rin, or possibly he actually thought ahead and knew Rin did not have the budget or care to go shopping for school supplies.

So if it was just a charity act then why was it getting under his skin? He had all he could have wished for, he was at the top of the food chain, the mega predator. Yet, he felt so weak; just like an envious elementary schooler over a foolish crush.

He didn’t care for the cheap pencils or dried rubber erasers, just the thought of it all was rather jarring. The order had come quite a long distance considering how they used to handle demons. With both Shiemi and Shura in high positions of power more and more demons have been tamed and influenced to join the order.

Axis has already had it far easier, if anything the biggest problem he may face is his own Hubris.

“I need to stock up on food and other items for the dorm, There should be some snacks in the pantry. I will start dinner at five,” Rin pounder for further announcements to share. “Stay in the dorm and keep all windows shut. We can go over my expectations and rules over dinner. For the time being, you can sort out your things and put them away. This dorm is all yours so treat it with care,”

With his parting words, Rin felt satisfied to leave the boy on his own. He still had work to do around the dorm, for one he needed to seal up the walls with guards and barriers of his own, it would be rather draining but he could always sleep more or just take a minor form. If things did go south then he could go to the goddess for further assistance.

He truly did not wish to bother them for something as trivial as borrowing magic. It was just a few spells to bind the rooms and add a further layer of protection over Axis. If it came down to it Rin would put on a contract seal on Axis, only if things got desperate. Rin’s contract seals almost always ended in some disaster so he was rather hesitant to share them so willingly.

Oddly enough for as persistent as they claimed Satan had been there were no traces of him anywhere near them at the moment. He was the entire reason the barriers needed to be installed in the first place. Oh well, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Letting his fire ignite a blue hum overtook his fingers as he traced them against the wall. Circle, lines, and create patterns made the base for the spell, for the most part, this seal was only for the show not for the true purpose. What truly mattered was the intention and desire behind it, the stronger the desire or purpose, and the more magic and time you pour into it the better the results. A full effort was put into each line, each turn and curve of the piece made the difference between Axis’s safety and his capture.

The very fate of this world may as well rest on them. Taking a small step or two Rin got a better view, the piece could use a few small edits but it was good enough to keep. Pressing his claws into the softwood the pentagram took shape as he traced over the pattern once more.

The steady scent of burning wood carved the way as magic flowed through the intricate path of the spell.

As the blue hue steeled into the wood, the chard lines slowly faltered as the wall resorted to its proper state. Solidifying the pride within Rin. His mark was now perfectly bonded with the very structure of the dorm with no mishaps.

“Good job,” Rin’s human peeped as he stirred from the mindscape.

Not being the bashful one the demon lifted his head. “Of course it’s good I made it,”

“Well, are you going to be done soon?” The human squeaked.

“I am done but why does it matter?” The demon growled as his work was thrown to the side.

“We are already late with our meeting with goddess they are waiting on us,” urgency ran through his voice as he spoke.

“What do you mean they are waiting on us?” Panicked the demon snapped into action.

“I was trying to tell you but you were rather focused and I didn’t want to ruin your progress,” The human whined in some weak defense.

“Alright, just tell them I will be there soon. I need to get our body to our room safely,” The demon sighed.

With no further confrontation the human slipped back into the mindscape leaving the demon in a frenzy as he tried to recall the plain basic room he had lived in all these years ago… Well, the room his human side lived in, he was sealed in the sword and only got to see daylight outside of the dorm room.

Struggling he continued to search his internal clock and began to twist around his mind creating a steady yet unbearable pressure. He would just have to settle for a different room for now. He needed to attend that meeting, the goddess were not ones to wait around for others. If he wanted to remain on any fraction of good terms he would have to act quickly in getting to the meeting.

Scrambling to the bed, he felt the anxiety and adrenaline settle into the pits of his stomach as he waited for sleep to overtake him. Falling asleep in the body was always so hard for him as was waking up. In the mindscape he could always flow freely between consciousness and unconsciousness, in the dreamscape, he always was unconscious. Yet, fronting the body it always hurt to wake up and was difficult to fall asleep, though it never seemed to be an issue for his darling human.

“What's taking so long?” The human asked in a nervous squawk.

“Sleeping is hard can’t you just get this stupid body to sleep,” Every the whinier when tiered the demon complained.

“Fine, I will get us to sleep but you are going to have to pull me from the dreamscape,” The human laid out a somewhat fair bargain.

“Deal,”


	3. You are all stupid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More chaos ensues as Rin tries to have a good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay in chapters I was finishing up one of my other fics. But now I am back to working on this one!

“I can’t believe you didn’t remind me sooner,” The demon hissed into the starless void. The two halves stood by each other’s side, just a touch away from colliding. This was nice; for different but similar reasons they enjoyed the company of the other.

“You are supposed to be able to remember everything, I shouldn’t have to remind you,” The human chuckled his voice echoing past the demon slowly fading into the vast range of their mindscape. “Alright, I’m ready,”

“Good,” The demon let his words flow off his tongue as he caressed the sides of his human. Drawing his other half closer, entrancing the poor creature in an unbreakable grasp. It was hard not to have his eyes drawn to the free-floating wisps of hair or the soft shadows that flicked across the human’s face when he blinked. “They will want us both there,”

And with that, a soft spiraling began carrying the two spirits along a steady current towards their guests who were so eagerly awaiting them. Steadily the world began to drip away with all bitter blackness fading into heavenly saturated hues. 

A familiar garden rose into place, bringing gorgeous fields of soft green grasses both sides were used to seeing. The sky was the same clear color; same as when they had left. The large oak and wall of crystals remained apparent. Everything was the same. This garden was unchanging, unbothered, unmoved by the forces of time, space, logic, disaster, and peace.

It was calm but an empty shell of a life. Not to mention the looming wall made of black crystals, most analogous to obsidian. 

“Armumahel, Shemihaza” The demon greeted, walking towards the two figments. “It seems you are in different forms this time,”

“You're late,” Shemihaza spoke, her voice roaring as the clouds did when undergoing the stress of a lighting bolt, resulting in the same dooming crash of threatening noise.

“Now now sister. We both know they didn’t intend on it.” Her voice raspy and soft, Armumahel soothed her mirrored half. “After all, they do have their hands full with that new spawn.”

“My goddess,” The human took a bow, trying to press down the fear and shame boiling inside. “Sorry for being late,”

“See what you did,” The goddess became enraged, snarling at the other. “honestly, I don’t know why you are in such a bad mood,”

“They were late”

“and? It was an accident. They just lost track of time, not to mention they got here as soon as they could. Hell, they even rushed if I do say so myself.”

“That’s still no excuse. They directly insulted us and our honor, they don’t value as much as they claim,”

“They were busy, besides it’s not like them being a few moments later is the end of the world. And how do you know what they intend,”

“Their actions speak for themselves!”

“SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU. KEEP THIS UP AND WE ARE LEAVING,” Rin’s demon snapped the two from their argument. His arms shielded the quivering human from the rage of the deities. The human could handle his own demon, but by the unfamiliarity of the landscape, the power surges, the lack of power. The poor human found it hard to even face the goddess alone, not to mention an enraged goddess.

“And what makes you think you can speak to me in such a manner?” Shemihaza snapped. “It seems you forget who you really are. And who you will always be”

“I know who I am,” Blue flames lit as the goddess approached. “And I know if you move any closer I will kill you,”

Embers from the flames spewed off to the sides, catching onto the grass but not igniting, simply glowing in the frozen landscape. A calm breeze wove through the demon’s hair, unshielded the predatory eyes that threatened to shave the goddess of her ego. However, the human laid unbothered and yet calmer than before. The flames permeated through Rin’s human causing a gentle buzz to fill his ears. In the wash of power, he let himself get lost, trying to find comfort in the grasp.

“Fine,” The goddess relented, retreating back to her post.

“Since you seem to not be in the mood; I along with my human will be leaving,”

“Rin, please wait,” Armumahel begged, her shapeless form taking a human body. She fell to her knees as she shared her plea. Black hair spiraling outwards in her pitiful state. “Rin, I need to hear about the halfling you have taken into your care,”

“I will be more than willing to speak with you about it once you are both ready to hear… Besides, I haven’t truly met him or even seen his capabilities. He has been a rather difficult being to read, not to mention we have limited interactions. I can’t give you a proper diagnostic of who or what he truly is until I can see him.” The demon explained, dragging the human along with him, back to their body. 

The plain abyss welcomed them, embracing with care and diligence as it always did. Unrest stayed consistent with the human, still frightened from the encounter. Inversely the demon was still agitated at the blatant bitter tone of Shemihaza. Sure she was a goddess but that did not excuse her behavior. They may not be equals in terms of age.

But in power, they were beyond the trivials of acquaintances. The two goddesses were the closest thing to a mother they had. But today they were off, Shemihaza was normally never so bitter and cold, not to mention wrathful. Armumahel was oddly passive as well. They most likely had some sort of argument beforehand, it’s why Armumahel was over-cautious but desperate to prove her point.

“Dem?” The human asked not daring to look over to his demonic counterpart. “You probably know why they were like this tonight, right?”

“I have a good idea why,”

“Why?”

“I… I’ll tell you tonight. I need some more time to think on it. Besides we should wake up before our sleep schedule gets ruined,”

“Yeah!” The human piped up, smiling so carelessly as he always did. He was just as threatening as a kitten. 

The human took control slipping into the earlier stages of rest, steadily shifting into a more aware state of mind. It was hard to scrape himself from the warm depths of sleep, to face the cold world and its lack of comfort. But there were some things worth waking up for. 

A deep fulfilling breath lifted his chest, bringing his heart into a steady pace. His fingers prickled with the morning sensation, as they regained feeling. 

“Hmn,” Rin let out a soft moan as his eyes fell open.

His pulis sharpened as golden eyes latched onto his as the said demon lingered a few inches away from his face.

“What the hell are you doing here,” Rin growled, his demon racing to the forefront.

“It’s midday, why are you sleeping?” Amaimon let the warning flypast his ears as he leaned closer to Rin.

A warning bite from Rin made Amaimon jolt back and topple onto the floor, only to catch himself on the floor. The embarrassment was far better than his flesh being met to Rin’s fang. Although young they were already big enough to cause significant damage. 

“You didn’t answer my question,” Amaimon noted looking up at the bed from his new position.

“And I will never.” Rin sat up, meeting the indignant glare. “It’s none of your business,”

“Does it have something to do with the brat?” Amaimon continued to pry for reasons, though he should have known better than to try. 

“Again it’s none of your business,” Rin looked around the room, no door or window was open. There was no crack in his barrier, nor did he sense Amaimon’s presence while applying the ward. “How did you get in here?”

“If you won’t tell me, then I’m not telling you,”

“Dammit Amaimon this is important…,” Rin stood, tail swinging by his side. “I swear if you did anything to Axis,”

“I didn’t go near him,” Amaimon grumbled, unmoving from his spot making Rin walk around him. “Big brother made me promise to listen to you if I could see him”

“What makes you think I am going to let you see him?”

“Brother said I could be useful, and it would be fun,”

“And you still listened to him, why?”

“He hasn’t been wrong about fun before,”

“Ok, ok, ok,” Rin muttered as he shook his head. “That still doesn't explain why I should let you meet him,”

“Brother sai-”

“Yeah, I know what he said,” Rin’s irritation began to breakthrough. There was only so much tolerance he could hold for Amaimon. “I just don’t have a use for you at the moment,”

“Older brother dose,”

“I don’t need his help,” Rin scoffed, walking up to the empty cabinet that would host this closest. and I haven’t asked for yours so feel free to leave,”

“He told me it had something to do with inspiring the brat. Does that give you any ideas?”

“Why do you want to see him?” Rin’s claws scraped against the wood of the door as he opened his closet.

“Demons have been raving about a second prince. I’ve come to see why they are so interested,” Amaimon spread out across the floor, lavishing in the space he got. 

“Well if you want to be helpful so badly then you can get started on cleaning the dorm.”

“I’m not a maid,”

“And I’m not a babysitter,” Rin summoned his bag and began to pick away at the contents, taking the folded clothes and placing them on the shelves. “Besides you are going to need to prove your dedication to being helpful if I’m letting you anywhere near the kid.”

“What do you need cleaned?” Amaimon sniveled, standing to begin his duties.

“For starters I want all the dust, mold, broken planks, and exposed nails to be removed. If you could I would like it if you could replace the boards,”

“No,” Amaimon’s eyes fixed on Rin in defiance. That was too much, Rin was already pushing it.

Without turning to face the demon Rin replied. “If you do it, I’ll play with you,”

Amaimon froze, the mention of play ran through his mind. Warmth rose in his chest, breaching the surface of his skin; adrenaline was already piling into the muscles of his host, preparing for the godly battle. He could already taste the drops of blood. Feel the air rush past him as all energy was focused on his opponent. He could smell the soft scent of fresh dew drops that were scattered as they landed in a cherry patch of grass.

The feeling of clay and mud would be all so familiar as he tore into them in search of a proper boulder to combat Rin with. The fresh burns of the holy flames as they passed through him. The following heat of the blood, conflicting with the flames, creating a steady violet hue to crowd the battlefield.

The desperation as he reached from the wisps of the power blue tail, only to meet the ground and feel the sharp pains of meeting the rocks and trees of the undoing. 

The victory of latching onto Rin and tearing apart the host he loved so dearly. The retaliation of a similar snap, with the shrieking of pain of the tear ligaments.

It could all be his, his reality, and his chance to relive the joy, the pain, and excitement. Fighting the first few times were meaningless compared to the bountiful play times they shared upon meeting outside of the watch of Samael.

“Fine,” Amaimon hissed, “But you don’t get to back out of play,” He threatened as if acting was any true challenge to him.

“So it’s agreed then. Go fix up the dorm please,” Rin said with a coy smile as he softly waved his hand fanning the air away from him and over to Amaimon.

Although unhappily Amaimon obliged, leaving Rin to unpack his belongings onto the dusty shelves and worn wooden drawers. He grimaced at the state of the compartments as he left them open. He didn’t even use half the drawers in high school, so some were worse than others, but it was clear rot had latched onto the wood.

He was lucky it was not a demonic infection. Even if you exorcise it the damn thing will only get worse. Some parts still appeared salvageable. Rin pulled the wooden cubbies out, making sure to prepare for the full weight as he moved them to the corner of the room. They each slid out with an easy click and managed to stack nicely.

Rin kneeled down to the floor; opening the last one he expected the normal soothing clicks as it slipped out of the slot. Instead, an aggressive halt stopped the fluid track. With a murmuring growl, Rin gave it a small tug, a simple way of accomplishing nothing. With a groan, he knew the next steps to take. The opened portion of the drawer seemed to contain a blanket of sorts.

It was a shiny grey with a short but soft texture, a balance between baby blanket and fuzzy pajama pants. “Huh,” Rin muttered, figuring it just got caught up in the hinges. He grabbed the fabric and felt it all unravel as he drew it away.

Piles upon piles of small, card size papers spewed out, raining down along the floor, followed a few miscellaneous thunks and clanks. Rin tossed the blanket over to the bed, as he stood to collect the papers. Leaning over to collect the first one he found the waxy texture to be off. 

Flipping it over, his mouth ran dry. A raspy gasp left his mouth. “Shiro,”

The door clattered against the wall. “I’m done,” Amaimon called, boldly entering the room. Rin tucked away the photo and scrambled to hide his newly made mess. It only took a swift snap for the photos to be collected and folded perfectly in the blanket. The booklets and small boxes were harder to conceal, so Rin let them be.

“Rin?” Amaimon’s head scanned the room in search of him. Stepping forward he was able to peer behind the closet door and found Rin fiddling with the last drawer. 

“Oh,” Rin muttered, taking in Amaimon’s sudden appearance. “You wouldn’t mind if I checked right?”

“I didn’t make any mistakes,” 

“I know. I just found some rot on my drawers and I am wondering if you cleared the rot out of the other drawers,”

“I left yours and his room alone,” Amaimon barked, walking over to the woodpile. “Do you want these fixed too?”

“Um, yes, I would appreciate it,” Rin nodded, gazing at the pile. His tail swayed, moving fluidly with each click of the vertebrae. It felt lazy leaving the mess for someone else but this was Amaimon’s task.

“So,” Amaimon’s hand traced along the top of the wooden surface bringing about a new life in the muddy brown solid. “What were you hiding when I first came in?”

“It’s none of your business,” The drawer still hung open, a few frozen or so photos lingered amongst the box and book. Grabbing them now would raise Amaimon’s suspicions.

Amaimon’s stagnant face showed no reaction as his arms came to the chest and folded over each other. His stance shifted as he continued his prance around the stack. 

The wood soon became renewed, glowing in a richer hew than before. The darker drown crevasse melted perfectly into the pale creams and vanillas of the highlights present in the wood. “Do you want me to fix that one too?”

Rin’s tail flicked upwards, waving carefully in the air before retreating back down towards his leg. The furred tip curled around his ankle; the unrelenting grip made it difficult to tear it away without bringing injury. “Sure,” Rin transported the box and book over to the blanket, ignoring the burning gaze of Amaimon.

He sat beside the blanket and allowed Amaimon a safe passageway to the drawer. Amaimon stepped closer, breaking the cross of his arms and using his hand to channel a fraction of his magic on the wooden fragments, while the other drawers drifted into the air and slid into their proper places.

“Now can I see the kid?” Amaimon stood looking over to Rin. 

“Fine,” Rin jumped to his feet, shoving his hands into his pockets. His tail finally relieved its grasp and tucked away nicely under his shirt just to avoid the threat of being crushed.

Amaimon didn’t care to walk quietly through the halls, stamping along the wooden halls with little care. Rin would have apprehended him if he was not enraptured by the fresh, revived look of the building. Every wooden structure looked renewed. There were no creaking or cracks as they walked. Even the old tattered carpets were revamped now shining in brilliant patterns along the floor.

Was this even the same place?

“Alright, now I want you to be nice,” Rin stopped in front of Axis’s door. Amaimon halted as Rin blocked his way.

“Brother already told me to be good,” Amaimon hissed, he never enjoyed repeated instructions. He terrified many teachers whenever they dared to clarify. 

“I know what he said. But I want you to make a good impression,”

Amaimon huffed looking away from the roadblock but giving a nod to signal his submission. 

“Good,” Rin gave a quiet knock on his door. “Hey, Axis? Can we come in?”

“Sure, It’s not like I can stop you” 

The door swung open revealing the oddly tightly room. The sheets to both beds were already set and fitted perfectly. There was no dust insight and the windows seemed to shine more than normal. Axis sat on his bed, sharing at the ground.

“You didn’t clean this one right?” Rin turned his head to face Amaimon.

“Correct. This section does not have much mold or faulty planks. It was the first part that brother renovated before giving up,”

“Another demon king?” Axis whined, gaping at the demon. 

“Yes, another one,” Rin entered the room and took his place standing with a small lean in front of the bed across from Axis. “I would try and get used to seeing them you are going to be seeing them a lot, especially Amaimon and Mephisto,”

“Can’t they at least try and dress normally?”

Amaimon’s pupils narrowed as he followed after Rin. Taking a similar stance, although Amaimon kept his hands hidden in the stitched pockets of his coat.

“They will dress however they please. And we can’t stop them,” Rin looked over to Amaimon. “Now moving onto the reason why we are here. Amaimon is going to be the first step in your training,”

“Frist step?” Axis’s head fell to the side, his eyes widen in interest as he bounced softly where he sat. 

“Yes, if you want to become anything in this world then I expect you to be able to defeat Amaimon by the end of next year,”

“What?” Axis stammered, he froze from his soft bounce. “How can you expect that? I don’t have magic like you,”

“We will get to that part later on. But there is more to fighting than magic. The worst-case scenario is you just have accelerated strength, and in that case, we can eliminate magic and you can either defeat him via a battle of strength or with a weapon. If you chose to use a weapon then you will need to train more, but it won't be too much more,” 

“But he’s a demon king,”

“Only, the seventh strongest. I can promise you there is nothing he can do to you that I can’t fix,” 

“And how are you going to see if I have magic?”

“Easy we push your body, if no magic sparks up then you just have strength. But if you do have the magic of some sorts then I will assist you in gaining control of that magic. Any questions,”

“Yeah, why the hell do you think he will listen to you? Don’t you know how destructive he is?”

“I know full well how dangerous he is, but trust me. He is no threat to me,” Rin laughed, his tail squeezing his waist as he spoke as his hand came to rest on his hips. 

“When are we going to play?” Amaimon muttered, poking at Rin’s cheek with a single clawed finger.

“We can play tomorrow. I need to start on dinner,”

“You said you were going to play with me,” Amaimon snarled.

“But I didn’t say when,” Smirking Rin walked past Amaimon towards the door.

Air wiped past him.

He shifted in his forced flight and broke through the glass pane without inflicting pain onto his body.

Shifting his legs he caught himself on the base of the tree and fixed himself onto the branches.

Looking through the shattered glass Rin met Amaimon’s challenging glare. 

“Amaimon, Don’t test me.” With a warning snarl, his flames lit, glittering over the surface of his skin. “I told you tomorrow for a reason. If you can't respect that then I am going to send you back to Samael,”

“I’m not going back to Samael,” Amaimon, crawled over to the window, perching his foot on the sill.

“And I’m not playing with you today. We are going to play tomorrow when I can ensure Axis will be safe,” The flames overtook him, leaving nothing behind. Only for Rin to prepare on the lip of the sill. 

Rin’s lip drew back to release the glistened fangs, his tail swinging rapidly from side to side, beating through the air as found Amaimon’s challenge still lingering about.

The lesser kin fell back. 

His arms and legs coming to catch him, only to stand in a weak crawl. 

On all fours, his ears fell and his neck bowed down, whimpering a weak growl as Rin entered the room.

“Leave,” Bearing his fangs he let a growl slip from his throat.

A thin fabric of green embraced Amaimon before he dissipated entirely. 

Axis didn’t fare much better, crumbling in a corner as he tried desperately to hide from the flaming demon. The animosity he felt, reflected around the room as his flames began to burn a warmth beyond comfort.

“Calm down,”

Their breath hitched, the flames stopped and the world began to churn, everything became a messy blur of sights.

“He got to you. He got under your skin and you flared up,”

“No, he didn’t,”

“Yes, he did. Just look at us. Look at Axis. If you can't control yourself, then are we any better than Satan?” 

The flames ceased, Rin’s lips slid over his fangs as they retracted. His shoulders fell and his tail unwound. 

“Sorry Axis,” The human took initiative, stepping from the copilot to the front. “I will go start on dinner,”

With a sigh, the human departed leaving the boy to sort himself out. He couldn’t help but listen to the eerie ring that paralleled a flatline. Silence embraced his mind, the numbing pain of the sudden change settled in the foreground.

He was there, just so close, an inch away from security. “Look, I…” 

His human side searched for the words to say, was there anything to say? He misspoke, there was that much but… They can’t let themselves act out like that. They promised to be better, hell they swore it. So why…

“We are nothing like Satan,” The demon hissed from the depths of their mind, clocked in the afterthoughts and shadows. 

“I know, and I want to keep it that way,”

“I have more self-control than you think, I would never let us become like him,”

“I know. I know. It’s just. Well,” The human groaned on the urge of anger and misery as he failed once more. “I don’t want to hurt those around us. We have so much to lose,”

“Don’t you think I understand that?” The demon lamented, his sensibility began to implode as he continued to speak. “It’s what I have been trying to avoid for so long. I have spent countless hours, days, weeks, years even. Just so you can have your friends, you can be happy, and be safe. SO I AM NOT THE DEMON YOU HATE,”

“Dem ple-,”

“No, don’t Dem me. You know full well I was only protecting us. I was keeping both you and him safe. Don’t talk to me unless you are ready to apologize,” 

The voice dispersed, leaving him feeling all the more empty and deprived. As he continued to walk towards the kitchen his tail dragged behind him, his back curved as he hung his head. His arms dared to cross over one another with his hands coming to soothe the open skin. 

His heart beat against his chest, trying desperately to walk off the stress it only boiled over. This day was only getting worse with no end in sight.

“So it’s true, you pushed Amaimon into submission,” The magenta smoke rolled in to meet the sorrowful Rin.

“Now's not the time Mephisto,” The human swallowed a knot, suppressing the trickle of pain that burst through him.

“Oh dear, are you feeling alright,” Mephisto stepped in front of the being, inspecting the surface of his face for signs of injury.

“No. Just go away,” The human tried to duck away from Mephisto only to be caught by the wrist. Unknowingly or not his arms had come undone, allowing to hold him in gentle captivity. 

“Rin, if we are going to be working together then you need to trust me,”

“Just leave us alone,”

“No, even if it takes you forcing me I’m not going to leave you in this state. You aren’t in a strong enough state to handle Father if he decided to poke his head in,” Mephisto huffed pulling out a small white cloth, no bigger than his hand.

“I don’t need help,” Rin grumbled, taking the selves of his shirt and dabbing away the collecting tears. 

“Stop that, you’ll just irritate your eyes further,” Mephisto kept his tone soft as he brought the fabric to Rin’s eyes and removed the moisture. 

The human relented allowing Mephisto to assist. 

“What do you want out of this,” Rin sighed, adverting his line of sight.

“I need you and your other half to come to terms with each other. You two are fine and don’t need to censor yourselves so harshly. Not to mention all the pressure you are putting on each other is ridiculous. This is meant as an easy job for you,” Mephisto jeered, wallowing as he spoke.

“What makes you think that? This is a serious task and one that can't be handled lightly.”

“Because I spoke with Shura. She could have easily exorcised the boy or deprived him of his demonic compatibility. Instead, she decided to ship him off to me and chose you to help,” Mephisto’s gloved hand met the tip of the Rin’s nose, leaving a soft tap behind. “You have been overworking yourself. Not to mention you have not been working with others, you two need how to work in a team again,”

“I suppose so,”

“Very well then. The first step; I am going to help with dinner.”

“Hell no, you aren’t going anywhere near my food,”

“Your food? It seems you forgot who pays for it”

The simple bickering exchange continued on as they walked to the kitchen, and began to prep the food. Mephisto was set on the chopping duty although that alone was dangerous. It was risky enough for Mephisto to be anywhere around food.

The help was refreshing, making a meal like this; from scratch, it was an old habit of his. One he hadn’t been used to doing for quite some time. The mixing, and cutting, and seasoning, and small hints to stress around each corner. 

It had been far too long…

“My my, it seems the resound chef is out of practice,” Mephisto hissed. “What a shame I was excited to taste your cooking again. I would hate to be disappointed.

“Oh, can it. It won’t take long, I just need to get back into practice. At least I know how to properly cut an onion~” Rin teased, inspecting the mess Mephisto had made of the mentioned vegetable. 

“So you two seem to be getting along well,” Rin froze as the voice sparked in his mind. It was odd the demon went back on his word. He usually stayed mad for longer… 

“Sorry about over-correcting earlier. I know an apology doesn't mean much but I hope you can accept it. I don’t like fighting with you,” He never saw any point in beating around the bush.

“I shouldn’t have snapped at you so quickly either. To be truthful, I'm still furious at the goddess and their behavior today. I expected more from them,”

“So we're good?”

“Of course we are. I can’t be mad at you for caring about others,”

“Nor can I for you protecting us,”

The flames although subtly lit around Rin, merging the two for a sip of a second.

“Um, Rin? I think something’s burning,” Mephisto cleared his throat, gaining RIn focus once more.

“What's this attention whore bitch doing in our kitchen,” The demon was not in the mood to continue the conversation in their private mind, after all, he was still looking for that fight.

“Since you made your human cry I’m helping as a proper gentleman should,” 

“You can go shove that proper act up-”

“HEY!” His human stepped it, cutting the demon short, and dragging the conversation back into the safety of their head. “He is being well behaved and helping. Don’t piss him off. Not to mention we have to work with him now,”

“Says who?”

“Says our boss,”

“Why do you listen to that human again?”

“That human is the only thing we have left of a family. Not to mention she’s not wrong about these sort of things,”

“She's a human,”

“And? I’m a human. You're a demon, we get along just fine,”

“But it’s Samael,”

“I know you don’t like him but that doesn't mean you get to be rude.”

“I can be whatever I want,”

Shaking his head the human took control once more. “So Mephisto are you almost done?”

“I believe so. How’s your batch coming along?” Mephisto inquired, as he added the semi chopped onion to the bowl.

“Well, I am finished with mine,” Rin paused looking down at the bowl. “I’ll go collect Axis,”

The dinner wasn’t much of an event, although the boy was rather shaken by the various encounters throughout the day. He kept his head down, ate quickly then went to bed. It wasn’t enough to break him, or even tame him. Now all he needed was good enough behavior to get into school, then it would be smooth sailing from there on out…. Right? 

When it came time for him to retire, Mephisto bid Rin adieu, and Rin went off to his room. The blanket with the photos and book, not to mention the box. Each photo was a memory, each forgotten or just ignored. But they were all his, but it wasn’t time to see them.

Not yet, soon but not yet.


	4. The blood orientation day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin and Axis discuss school before first-year orientation, when they arrive they try to survive with their sanity till the end of the day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry in advance I had no idea this was going to be as long as it turned out to be. The final word count was 7.3k and I normally aim for 5k-5.5k
> 
> So... hope you enjoy

The soft aromas of the morning air and the near brunt food sitting on his plate did not soothe Rin. Gazing through the various courses it was a struggle to pick out anyone that would fit Axis. He got the basic courses down, but what would he do for the extracurriculars? Not to mention he would need to set aside a period for training. 

Could that count as his physical activity credits? Sure he wasn’t an approved couch but he was assigned to train Rin, and as long as it was ok with the legal guardian, and if he could get confirmation from the assistant principals then it would be fine. All he needs to do is get Mephisto’s approval. 

“Morning,” Axis yawned, stumbling into the kitchen, he appeared in no better shape than Rin. Hair messy and mangel, shirt twisted, and nearly half backward, his shorts fared no better with one side riding his upper thigh like a risky teen’s booty shorts. 

“Did you sleep well?”

“Seeing as I got to sleep, I would say I got good sleep,”

“Do you feel refreshed at all?”

“I don’t feel tired,”

“Well, that is a step in the right direction,”

Axis slumped down across from Rin exhaustion bubbling through him. “Hey, are you going to eat that?”

“You can have it, I’m not hungry right now,” Rin shuffled the papers in his hands as he searched for something to resemble normalcy. 

“Why do you have so many brochures?” Axis grumbled, dragging the porcelain plate over the table. 

“I’m trying to pick out courses for you before the orientation today but it’s hard finding something that will suit you,”

“Wait, the ordination is today?”

“Yes,”

“Well, what are the course options?”

“Just take a look through them and tell me what is interesting to you,”

“So I can just pick anything from this list,”

“Well yeah, but I would avoid getting into anything that requires you to stay in the course for all four years. Also try to steer away from the ones that require a pricy entrance fee. Heaven knows I don’t have the budget to pay for that and Mephisto will be rather picky on money,”

“I see… So what would be an acceptable fee?”

“200 and below,”

“What if I take up the homebuilding course?” Axis flipped around the page and directed Rin’s attention to the page. “The fee is only 20 and it doesn’t require any long term commitments,”

“If you want to learn how to cook I can teach you,” Rin muttered, giving the paper a side-eye. “besides we are going to be doing enough cleaning up as is to keep this place standing,”

“I know that just learning how to stitch could be useful,” He flipped the paper back over to himself “It will be an easy A. It may be boring but it will boost my GPA.”

“Alright, as long as you are willing to put forth the work,” 

“Cool! So that’s one down… How many of these do I need exactly?”

“Three more, you need four in total. And also you need a period of exercise although I may be able to plan our training in one of those periods, so plan for four periods but it could get overridden,”

“Well, none of these other courses are useful or cheap. How can I be expected to choose any of these, they are all stupid.” Axis slumped into his chair, taking a chunk out of the toast only to reel at the taste. “What’s in this?”

“We got distracted,”

“What?”

“I got distracted,” Rin shook his head fighting through the exhaustion, he corrected his statement. “I almost burnt the toast,”

“Maybe you need to go back to culinary school,” Axis giggled, warranting a glare from Rin.

“I didn’t go to culinary school, even if I did it wouldn’t help me with trying to make sense of this stupid syllabus,” the paper snapped as the air around dispersed from beneath it when making contact with the table. “This is dumb, all this research is futile. It’s just wasting time,” 

“Why are you reading the school syllabus?” Axis glanced over the sheets with disdain. 

“The school is rather prestigious and many students would die for a chance to get in, so misbehavior is highly penalized. Of course, since you are under Mephisto’s care you will stay in the school, but that doesn’t mean you are free from consequences.” Rin stiffened, hand coming to his hair before pausing. “I just want to be familiar with the rules and try to help us stay clear of breaking them,”

“Won’t the rules be covered in the orientation?” 

“Most of the rules and they will be more of guidelines. Besides if I am to take any teaching role then I need to be familiar with the syllabus,”

It was pointless, he knew it was. But regardless he was compelled to read through it. After all, he had Yukio to guide him through the rules, and terms of residency. Axis has no one, no known relatives, no siblings young or old. 

Well, he had one sibling. They were related through Satan, so siblings in a sense. They were closer blood-related than any of the demonic kings, and they all managed to call each other siblings so it would only be normal.

But was it normal? A sibling over a decade and a half shows up one day with no warning, immediately gets inserted into your life. At this point nothing was normal, to expect normalcy was a fool’s game one Rin would not win.

Maybe this would be for the better, parts of him still craved the bond that had been so abused and abruptly cut short. 

“So… when does orientation start exactly?”

“It begins at ten am, but we don’t need to get there that early as I already have most of your supplies. We also need to go pick up your uniforms and register you for your classes and speak with Mephisto about your education,” Rin’s claws began to tap against the wooden table, waiting for something, possibly a point to the string of questions Axis was providing.

“Ok,” The beating rhythm only seemed to ruffle Axis more. “So how will we get there?”

“Belial should be coming at ten to bring us to the convention. Any more questions,”

“Um..” His voice trailed off, as his lips clicked shut. His words were there but remained unspoken for fear of outlash.

“I shouldn’t have snapped in front of you like that. This is a new change for me and I’m still learning a lot. But that’s no excuse. I’m sorry,”

“Yeah, I guess,” The lone piece of toast sat stale, tasteless, useless. “So who's going to make breakfast?”

“You keep searching for classes, I’ll make the food. So what sounds good to you today,”

“Eggs?”

“Alright, eggs it is then,”

Rin scrounged around the kitchen for his old cookbooks. He had dozens of breakfast recipes regarding eggs, something must be to his taste. A simple recipe would be nice, nothing too complex or convoluted but the flavor should not suffer because of the simplicity. Eggs were easy, it was what to pair with them that became the challenge.

A mash or would rice do better. Savory, mild, or butter flavor pallet; and what texture, soft, chewy, crunchy, possibly a mix. 

Well just for the sake of time french toast seemed to fare best, simple, easy, and filling. It was simple enough of a flavor, nothing too daring that would offset Axis’s tastes. The choices of toppings were limited, but Rin could deal with limited. 

Whisking the various ingredients together, Rin began to concoct the ideal breakfast. Beaten eggs, with soft cream and sprinkles of spices to add the necessary dash of flavor. 

Axis fixed his attention onto the pages scanning every word of each course, something had to come out of this. So many courses, years’ worth of knowledge suppressed into one year of learning, and yet nothing stood out. Everything was either a prerequisite far too expensive or was general classes. General Pe and beginners’ art theory quickly filled the necessary slots, but one was missing, left blank, empty for anything. 

All that was mildly interesting was out of reach, all he was left with was the revolting course he never wished to lay his eyes on. Creative writing...

What did this school think it was? Some expensive mockup of a nicely funded public school? Who even took creative writing for more than a filler class? Biting his tongue Axis let his dignity sink. Filling in his third-course option. Creative writing. 

This surely had to be bounds ahead of the methodical literature and evolution of poetry he was forced into during his middle school days. 

Middle school was a lie, no one wanted to be there, and no one knew what they were doing. All the love each other and be kind announcements were bullshit anyways. Everyone hated each other and was seconds away from snapping. 

Some had real friends, true people who would bever betray them. How foolish they were, so many spineless freaks roamed the building pretending to be all high and mighty when they were only popular because of their parents’ money.

Why was he even here, a talentless foster kid with demonic blood in his veins. Wouldn’t dying be easier than living? There was always the chance of reincarnation, but also the chance of no life after death. It was a dice toss, besides if he were to start over what was the chance he would end up in a better life?

If there is a life after death then why would a demon go to the good one? He hadn’t done anything, nothing good from his insipid life. 

So living was worth it, worth the thousands of dragged-on hours and hundreds of cloying worksheets all for the sake of knowledge. Death was a gamble, too much of a gamble to take now. He could risk it when he has something good, something worth reward.

Then he could beat it, leave this existence behind. 

“I made french toast, hope you don’t mind,” the plate clicked against the wooden surface as it sat next to silver utensils.

“Oh, thanks,” The papers in his hand crumpled as he set them against the table and turned to face the food dressed upon the plate.

The metal was oddly cold and heavy, a far cry from the plastic mock-up he was so accustomed to. 

Positioning his knife by the fork he cut through the toast, watching with dark fascination as it easily slid through the compact dish.

“Do you want any syrup?” Rin patted the plastic bottle against a ledge of the table, waiting for the viscous surface to slide down to the cap. 

“Sure,” Axis, taken from his focus, let his knife dig into the ceramic creating a shrieking snarl bound past their simple conversation. 

A hiss wavered past Rin’s lips as his hands’ came to caress the fine edges of his ear lobes, aiding some comfort to the sensitive flesh that had been so abruptly penetrated.

“Sorry,” Axis squeaked, flinching as Rin ensnared the fear of failing once more.

Just as he was enraged, he softened, spine turning, curing inwards as his shoulders fell and head fell upon an open palm. 

“I’m no expert,” A smile cracked through Rin’s stoic appearance. “But that’s not how you cut toast,”

“Well, where I’m from we don’t cut toast,” mocking mid-southern accent Axis got a burst of glee, spine stretching as he sat.

“Barbarians,” Rin mimicked a gasp of pure contempt, a mirrored smile echoed into Axis’s expression. 

The raw joy of the moment featured, lingering in the air, and washing away the stress from the prior even in this very morning. Even if it was in a blink of a moment, it was nice, the birds sang their morning calls, the tree branches rustled and rumbled outside dancing in the draft.

A gentle breeze brushes past the loose leaves, dragging them along to drift amongst the changing tides of the wind. 

Finishing breakfast and dressing for the day was the easy part. The grooming, the bathing, the combing; in the end Rin looked near picture-perfect with Axis only bearing a few imperfections. Since he had yet to get his uniform

Axis wore the first thing he found; mud-stained white and blue short sleeves mess of a shirt, with loose boxy shorts, and ratty neon green shoes. It was good that Rin had settled on going early, upon seeing Axis’s get up he agreed the tailor was a priority. 

Rin wasn’t one to invest himself in his appearance but there were some things he couldn’t allow, one of these being the rumor of neglectful care. It wasn’t his fault Axis refused to wash his clothes. Things would change with time but at the moment it was better to sweep this under the rug. 

Near the exact toll of 11 rolled around, the cursed glaring pink car pulled up to the dorm. The two snuck out of the building. Axis was soon tucked into the back seat hidden from the windows. Rin took his place at the front seat next to the butler, although in sight of the windows Rin wasn’t a far cry from a solid shadow. 

He wore a thin black coat with similarly black pants, near dress quality but not as posh. Rin also took the care to apply chalk on his silvery hue of hair to give it a natural pigmentation, It wasn’t much but it would make it far easier to avoid being recognized. With this he also hid his tail in the pants, coiled around his leg. Taking an extra step he covered the minor marks that could identify him, contouring had been a rather useful skill he picked up for the past few years.

Once set in the car Rin greeted the servant, directing him to their destination. Talking like old friends the time slid by, discussing the various business ventures and recent odd changes Mephisto had made to marking. That's when it slipped.

“You do know he is planning to release a batch of merch of you,”

“He what?” 

“Did he not tell you?”

“He-” Rin nearly choked on his breath. “He is planning on using my face for his merchandise?”

“No, he has pillows, plushies, figurines, and even keychains lined up. All he needs is your signature and he will begin production.” The butler nearly bit back the confession, in the end, it would be better to face his master’s wrath than to lie to the prince. 

“What makes him think I would ever sign up to that?’

“He is planning on giving you 25% of all profits. Not to mention it would outsell all the other competitors who are using your face. It would also allow him to get a copyright and protections on you,”

It wasn’t much but he would get in good graces if he sold this to Rin before Mephisto had the chance to ruin his chances. 

“He wants to copyright me?”

“In a way yes. It would bring more focus onto your organization and get more supporters and funders. If you do remarkably well as he plans you could also sign on a deal with him and create benefits for supporters.”

“My supporters have the benefit of being involved in making a better world,” Rin’s tone sharpened, threatening to cut the conversation off early.

“I’m afraid I misspoke. That isn’t necessarily planned at the moment but is being considered. I just want you to think about it. If he created a merchandise line you could pull in more funds,”

“That does sound good, but I would want to see how good of an impact it makes. Just to know if it truly is worth the trouble of more profits.” 

As the car approached a sloping incline the conversation took a dip. “Axis,” Rin’s focus changed from the demon to his ward. “We should be arriving soon,”

“Finally,” Axis grumbled, “I was beginning to worry this would go on forever.”

Arriving at the designated locale the car came to a steady halt. Snapping into the place the brakes guarded a safe stop. 

It didn’t take a single word to get Axis from the car, he waited rather contently on the pavement. Rin barded himself from grimacing before turning his attention back to Belial. “Thank you,” 

“Of course my prince,” 

Rin passed with a nod, excusing himself from the car. Meeting Axis’s gaze he escorted him to the shop. The receptionist beamed when he caught Rin’s eyes. The forming grin and dilation of his pupil set Rin off in an instant. It was a look he was all too familiar with. A look that caused impending dread and despise. 

Thankfully the tailor came around back to greet the two. “Mr. Okumura, I got word from Sir Faust that you would be arriving soon,”

“Axis here needs a uniform the coming semester,” His head tilted to the said boy, who stood fitting the title of accessory more than a person at the moment. 

“Of course, I will be assisting you two today,” The demon spoke with prestige, turning his back on the pair, yet he maintained a stray hand out to wave them closer. “Now, please follow me,”

There truly were elements of Mephisto buried in his kin, in the mannerisms and graceful way of talk and movement. Of course, that could just be synonymous with sentient upper-class kin of the upper kings but it was hard to say. 

Most kin prevented their animalistic traits rather than human ones, with a human host came the responsibility and encouragement to be more humanlike. Of course, it was up to them how they choose to present themselves. 

Yet with the thousands of demons Rin had met one thing was clear, they called him by some form of prince. My prince, our prince, young prince, some used demonic scribe and others just spoke in whatever tongue the conversation was held in. 

Of course, there was the rare occasion where they would carry a conversation in one tongue but call him by Prince in another; the title of prince always seemed to hold far more value than Rin put to it. He wasn’t their prince or their king and yet they addressed him as such… Odd creatures demons are.

Rin as instructed waited outside of the dressing room, Axis and the tailor found their way into the dressing room, although the tailor soon joined Rin giving Axis the privacy he needed.

Rin let his eyes wander onto the fine details of the wall. The fine brushwork of the various objects painted on the wall, sewing needles, tape measures, patterns, all laid out on a mulberry background. It was clear a few artistic liberties were taken with the shape and direction of the objects. 

They looked rather cartoony, but with the thick lining, bold colors, and minimalistic shading, not to mention the modest color of the backdrop. Thankfully it fit nicely with the black furniture and curtains scattered around the waiting room.

The lack of decorations provided an open- mostly open room with plenty for your eyes to catch onto.

The lack of defined noise in the art piece made the small noticing all the more plentiful, the small birds painted onto the energy sockets, the small black and grey rainbow hidden by the charcoal loveseat with a dark oak backing. 

Axis, once done signaled the tailor and he came around to mark for any necessary. It wasn’t a second more when the curtain flung opened to reveal him.

The yellow bands around the tie added a nice contrast to his dull blue eyes, The saturated red did give his rusty hair a more orange-brown look but that wasn’t necessarily an issue. His frame seemed to fit nicely in the outfit. The coat especially gave him a fuller look, not fat but no longer as thin. 

Not to mention the clean fit look of the unscuffed, freshly pressed, and ironed clothes; he finally looked as if he belonged to a family of some dignity. 

“Well Mr. Okumura, it seems you are in luck, There aren’t many adjustments needed, of course, we could always adjust the shoulders to give more leeway but it’s up to you,” pride was written on his stance, legs steady and firm, head lifted high, arms cross but not to tight as to be defensive. 

“Axis, what do you think,” At the mention of his name the boy perked up, his head rose to meet Rin’s attention.

“Well,” He shifted his weight, teetering on his feet as he made his decision. “It doesn’t feel constrictive to me,”

“Alright,” Rin snapped into action moving towards the register “Should we get going?”

“If you wish you may leave, your bill was paid in advance by Sir Pheles. But if you choose to you can stay,”

“Oh, ok. How long are you going to be here?”

“I will be here till seven, although I will have to leave for the Orientation, so I should be back from that around three,”

“Alright then, come on Axis,” With his head Rin motioned the door, waiting for Axis to snap into action and follow behind him.

Axis sculled up to Rin, trailing him as a rat to cheese. The morning air greeted them once more, as Belial stood waiting for the two of them to arrive once more. As a proper chauffeur, he opened both their doors, treating them as he also closed it behind them before making his way to the driver's seat. 

As he settled into his seat Rin caught his glance and continued to watch on as the butler diverted his gaze altogether. The small action set off an alarm, small and petty but still, it lingered in his mind.

Belial settled into his seat and seemed to shrink ever so slightly as Rin burned him with his unwitting attention. 

A partial scowl with softened brows; a branch of shame accompanied by partial resentment of fear. Ah, this look was all too familiar, one of a caught kitten who couldn‘t burrow away to lick their wounds.

“I hope we didn’t keep you waiting for too long,” Unintentionally his eyelashes batted, disrupting the light pouring into them and creating little shimmers of light across his sclera.

“Waiting is no concern of mine My Prince,” Belail shook away the notice of it, and tucked away the dread pecking at his mind, and started the car, unlike before they shared no conversation and each sat in silence, biding their time and waiting silently. 

Meanwhile, Rin’s human struggled to keep his demon at bay. Although it was simple jealousy things like this can and will boil over when set for too long. 

“You saw exactly what I saw, don’t you dare try and cover or explain away his actions,”

“I am not trying to, I am just thinking we should be careful without next steps, After all, we will be working alongside him,”

“That doesn't mean I have to like it,”

“As much as I would like to give the benefit of the doubt, you are right, he knows better. We, although as stunning as we are, have a right to privacy and safety. I wonder if it would be a good idea to report this to Mephisto. Snitching could ruin our relationship or Mephisto could become worse. Or things could get better... But then Belial could get in trouble-,”

“Dear, don’t overthink this. I will talk to Belial, you just sit back and relax. 

“Alright dem, just make sure Axis is out of the car before you do,”

“Don’t worry I learned my lesson well enough from last time,”

The car came to a halt in front of the main hall; Axis was near jaw dropped at the sight. The wondrous architecture, full streets, hundreds maybe of even thousands of shops, schools, buildings and the first arrivals of students. 

It was astounding to think so many buildings could be stacked in one location. 

“Axis, could you please wait outside the car for a moment? I need to freshen up disguise a bit,”

“Alright,” Axis shrugged, opening the door all the soon just to close it behind himself.

“Belial,” the demon flinched, wishing to retreat from the situation.

Rin summoned the black chalk from before along with a small busy brush, letting it glided across the pigment he began to speak. “If you wish to keep your host in prime condition I suggest you keep your eyes off of mine,” His demon snarled, bounding to the forefront. “Am. I. Clear?”

“Very, my lord,”

“Good,” Rin tapped the dark powder against his hairline and into the lighter areas he had missed in his first pass with the color. “Now that we are agreed, I see no reason to continue this conversation further or share it,”

With that Rin stepped out of the car, snapping the pallet away as he did. Just as he began to walk Axis followed, still wrapped in awe at the mere size of the building. Not to mention the diligent details of the polished stone, each tile seemed to depict a different state of being or a different place. Some tiles showed towering mountains, others peaceful valleys, some mild rivers, some icy tundras, some vast deserts, others inexplicable forests; some just depicted young children ranging from fresh graduates to newborns. 

Was this some shrine of sorts? That would certainly explain the wall of pictures carved into the stone. Why the people in question got their faces preserved for near entirety, or at least for however long the school stood.

The two held their heads from out of the line of sight, silently delving into the auditorium, ducking away from the crowd, and filtering through the security wall of teachers, who were pre-informed of Rin’s arrival. 

Falling behind the doors, they found an empty corridor upon empty corridor. It was quiet compared to the roar of the incoming hoard of first years. The silence only grew louder as they wandered farther into the halls.

Axis clawed at Rin’s arms, reaching for an element of support as the concern began to consume him. It was odd, something about this rose a bubbling concern that only managed to swell the longer the ringing silences continued. 

“It’s only a bit longer till we reach the headmasters’ office,” Rin informed Axis, but the drop of soothing could not stop the rapids of a torn ocean. “Hey, don’t be nervous,”

“I’m not nervous,” Axis sniveled, as his syllables clashed creating a hiss of sorts.

“If you say so,” Rin rounded the corner only to pause, his feet sunk into place only a few steps away from the door.

“Why did you stop?” Axis murmured gazing around the hall with caution.

“He redecorated,” 

The carpet leading up to the office was a bright teal, a far cry from the normal tan Rin was used to. The walls also held a new complexion in the form of a muted white; the shadows that cast along the walls created a gradient effect from the off-white to a light powdery shade of grey. 

“Seriously that's it?” Axis snapped irritation rising to the surface. “I thought it was something actually important for a moment.” Yet he did not move forward without Rin, he froze next to the stronger being.

“I suppose you are right, it doesn't seem that important,” Rin’s words drawled on as he spoke, just before he fluttered back into action and approached the door. “Are you coming?” His head turned back to Axis who still lingered in his spot.

“Yea-,” Axis held his tongue before he spoke once more. “Yes,” 

“Good,” Hollow knocking echoed through the surface of the wood. 

“Come in,” Mephisto purred from behind the doors as he set paper after paper into their designated manilla folders. “Well hello, Rin,”

“Hello, Mephisto,”

“Well I see you changed your hair,” The pigment latched on rather nicely to his hair, it was almost too real. A bare echo of the past.

“This isn’t permanent, it’s just a disguise for the day,” Rin’s finger came to the strands, weaving quickly between them to check for any mangled spots that may have occurred. 

“Well,” He scoffed, a grin coming to his face served with glee, “it’s sure some disguise,”

“I don’t mean to be rude but we are on a schedule,” 

“So be it then,” Mephisto sighed, as his shoulders fell. “have you decided on a schedule for Axis?”

“Yes, although I have yet to discuss the training situation with the vice principals,”

“It’s school policy that private trainers are allowed as long as a legal guardian signs the permission slip. 

“I am aware, so although I am not licensed I can still classify as a trainer?”

“As an arch knight, you are more than qualified to perform exwire and demonic training. You don’t need a general license. So now that is cleared, what will he be taken as extra circulars?”

“Homebuilding, creative writing, and beginners art theories,” Axis didn’t get a chance to speak, nor did he wish to.

“Who’s boring trad wife is he planning to be?” Mephisto scoffed, his chair swung slowly, side to side, he repeated the motion with gaps of pause to add a spark into this conversation.

“All the other courses require long-term commitments or pricey fees. Neither which we wish to be involved with,” 

Rin wasn't keen on giving his explanation of events. The demon was smart enough to know why he did what he did. 

“Well, I do find it concerning he isn’t taking any advanced courses. How could he possibly be emitted to colleges with his bland course cast?”

Whoever said Axis would make it college?

“I don’t need his studying to take up any more time than necessary. If he feels the need to have a heavy workload then we can always put him into advanced classes,”

“I see, well I have to say Rin I am rather disappointed in you, I expect you to push the rules at least a bit,” Mephisto reclined into his seat, a frown nested as he spoke.

“And?”

“And I want to know when you became so boring,”

“I’m not boring,” Rin kept his voice steady, he let his words flow off his tongue and slither over to Mephisto. “I’m simply on a mission,”

“So it’s true then, you certainly have become the Orders’ pet,”

“Say what you will about me, but I would advise you get a more reliable source than petty gossip spouted by kin” With that Rin turned, his back to the king, making his way to the door his path came to halt. “Oh, and say hi to Beelzebub for me,”

With a fresh sneer, he left Mephisto to fester in his disappointment. It was truly his own fault for listening to gossip. 

Everyone was far too catchy about his personal life and matters. This was his life, his world, no one had the right to snoop where they did not belong.

Curiosity was normal, but he could not excuse such faceless rumors to continue inflicting him. He wasn’t a pet. If anything the order was at his whims, the very leaders of the order were strung up by his ties to them.

It would be fictitious to claim that he puppeteered them, but when push came to shove there were always a few benefiting biases Rin got to receive. He was complaining by any means either.

Rin knew his way around enough to drag Axis to the library and cafeteria, although it would be rare for them to truly visit these locales for their intended purpose. Still, these places were a good starting place for figuring out the construction of the building. 

On top of this, there was the blessing of most students visiting classrooms or preparing for the orientation. No one took notice of him or Axis, as they stalked through the building searching for the auditorium. 

It was hard to say Rin missed anything about this school other than Kuro. The poor cat Sidhe was stuck here in a guard position, but of course, he got time off to visit with Rin. 

It would be nice to have Kuro around again, he always managed to spark life into the dull moments of his day.

Only a few minutes before the assembly was scheduled to begin, Rin found the amphitheater, and urged Axis to go find a seat for himself, while RIn lingered in the back of the room, watching the doors as everyone began to file into the room. Small flickers of conversation grew to a chaotic mess of words as the noise came to a catastrophic crescendo with no end in sight.

Then the soothing taps of the microphone joined by an eerier glare of feedback swept the room; bringing the students to a hush, not even a whisper. Mephisto, although under this pretense he was John Faust the fifth? Possibly sixth at this point. 

The lights dimmed as his performance began. He mirrored the same introduction speech from years prior, the same quaint welcome, the same prideful boast of his school, and a near bold-faced lie about he wishes they all succeeded.

A few administrators took the stage next, going over mind-numbing material, reminding the students to read for the syllabus and follow the rules, then it was finally time for the prefix of each year to take center stage.

Each one came and gave some “inspirational” Gaulish speech, then it was over. The lights returned, bringing about the chaotic spew of speech.

Rin snapped into the forming swarm and dug Axis out, slithering his way from the room and returning to the safe vastness of the world, freedom from the threat of trampling. 

Trouble arose in yet another form, a stalking predator perched on the roof of their ticket home. Amaimon sat rather unhappily as Rin begrudgingly met his gaze. 

“No,” He snarled, stepped towards the door, only for the demonic king to bend the metal, twisting the sheet against the frame. All hopes of avoiding the fight vanished as Rin stepped back. “If you can go get Mephisto to watch Axis, then I will play with you,”

“Well this isn’t the most ideal time,” Mephisto appeared with a sigh, sneering at the damage on his car. “but it should be a nice introduction for our incoming pages,”

“Alright,” Rin spoke up, attracting all attention to himself. “now that you are here, are there any guidelines you would like set?” 

“Well of course,” Mephisto cooed, walking closer only to pass them and turn on his heels.“Stay away from my school, do not harm a single one of my students, also avoid destroying the terrain. I only just got it looking nice a few years back and I don’t want it ruined,” He continued his little prance-like stance to keep all eyes on him. 

“Anything else,”

“The loser gets to fix my car,”

“How about this, we can destroy the landscape, but whoever loses also gets to fix the terrain,” 

Rin wasn’t planning on destroying the earth necessary, but there were a few tricks he needed to freshen upon.

“Alright, deal, but you must return it to how you found it”

With that Amaimon clamped onto Rin, disregarding the rules of consent as drew them from the portal with what magic reservoir he had set aside from his main pool. He needed his magic to fight, wasting it on something as plain as teleporting was normally a rarity, but this was an exception. 

Rin had little time as Amaimon began, throwing the Nephilim into the rough of the forest. 

Mephisto was left scrambling as the fight began without him. “Well, it seems he hasn’t learned any manors,”

Extending his craft-worthy umbrella he grabbed the second hellspawn, snapping the both of them to a far more convenient locale, a few hundred units above the fight, safe from the danger, but still in a viewable range. Mephisto took priority over his chair as Axis was left to sit on the armrest. Gazing below at the sense it was easy to get lost in.

Small embers of sparks lit against the dark green and brown of the forest below. Slowly the fire built up, slowly igniting the surroundings spiraled and cutting the forest in a mangled pattern of lines.

It all seemed to be orderless, shapeless, untold secrets laid in the scored lines. Between the small clouds of smoke, Amaimon kept launching for his opportunity to attack, each time he only succumbed to the gravitational forces of the earth, tugging him back down to face his opponent once more.

“Stop moving,” He seethed through saliva glanced fangs, as the exhaustion poured into him, weight down his limbs, tearing the shred of hope he had of winning. “Fight me with what honor you have,”

“Only if it was that simple,” Rin cooed, his foot seared the lively grass below him creating a small oval that slid into a spiral as he hovered around his space with the elegance of a swan on a rainy day. He was unbothered, unmoved by Amaimon’s advances, “I guess you don’t like being the weaker party,” 

“I am not weak,” Amaimon attacked once more, but instead of a weak-willed dodge, Rin caught the demon.

His claws wrapped around the throat of his prey and held the stunned demon above the ground, watching as the distress rolled into him. Panic inflamed in Amaimon’s eyes, next came his black talons, they flexed as his arms hung at his side, unmoving the lingering uselessly. It was only when he snarled that his lungs began to scratch for air. 

No, this fight wouldn't end like this.

It couldn’t.

Amaimon drew his legs to Rin’s stomach, digging the tread into Rin’s stomach he began to twist. 

He could feel the flesh collide and hug the sole of his shoe. He could see the fabric of his outfit pinch beside his boot.

He laid waiting.

Waiting for a squeal or at least a yelp.

Something.

Anything.

Just a sign to signify pain or struggle.

He felt his heart drop with a single inhale escape into his lungs, The grip loosened but Amaimon lingered in the air. 

Heartless laughter spewed into the air, filling his ear with malicious music. “Oh darling no, You would have to do a lot more than that to hurt me,”

With that, Amaimon felt the ground greet him, but he didn’t try to get up this time, he only sat, watching Rin as he continued his ritualistic theatrics. This wasn’t fun anymore. 

Rin had ruined his own game. 

A few bounds away Rin froze when he came to this relation, it was over. Amaimon wasn’t getting ready to counter, or attack for any longer, he laid there waiting for the match to be called. 

“Aw~ don’t give up so quickly,” Rin sighed traveling over to the demon. “I am done yet, if you want you can throw into the trees some more.”

Silenced was his only response, as the detached expression of Amaimon stared unblinkingly back. 

“Please, I need this practice,” Rin whined lying along the floor next to the fallen foe. “I’ll go easier on you, I promise,”

He went unanswered once again. With the disappointment furling in he looked to the sky, finding Mephisto still lingering above.

“Mephisto! Come play!” Rin let his voice carry into the atmosphere, hopefully reaching the demon.

He didn’t wait for much longer and leaped into the air coming to meet Mephisto’s gaze. He caught himself on the second armrest. “Mephisto,” he whispered inching closer to the demon’s ear

‘I’m not playing with you Rin,”

“Mephisto,”

“No,”

“I need practice,”

“You have plenty of practice already,”

“Please Mephisto, I’m not asking too much from you,”

“If I play with you, who is going to watch Axis?”

“Just stick him in your pocket dimension,”

“Why are you so set on playing Rin?” 

Mephisto rested his head on his chin as he looked over to the Nephilim, expecting an answer. 

“Please Mephisto, just play with me,”

“I can summon the servants, they can keep you busy long enough to finish whatever you are planning,” 

“Alright,” Rin hummed, hopping off the chair. 

Axis sighed, leaning against the plush cushions. 

“I doubt they will last much longer, but if you wish I could get you dinner,” Mephisto offered, Axis perked up at this offer but soon shook it off.

“It’s not that, he just doesn't seem to be fighting at all,” Axis let a leg dangle in the open air

“Well, of course, he is playing,” Mephisto retorted, turning his nose up at the very idea of anything else. “Amaimon is no threat to him nor are my servants,”

“It just doesn't seem right,” Axis cast his gaze down as a small band of demons gathered near Rin. “Amaimon is capable of far more than what I saw,”

“Yes that is true, but he is under the pretense of playing, and Rin didn’t even let himself be attacked. It was a game of cat and mouse with a lion instead of a mouse,” Mephisto straightened his spine by the chair, bringing his posture to a more proper posture. “Rin never needed to defend himself, but he had no desire to be harmed, it’s a common pattern for demons of a higher caliber,”

“Higher claiborne?”

“Higher class, stronger, fortitude. Rin is far more powerful than you give him credit for,”

Sparks lit once more as Rin continued to draw lines into the land. Belial was one of the more persistent of the group, going in for attack over the attack, only to be thrown about, posing no more threat than a dust particle.

With the extra drive and push, Rin felt the blood run through him, gliding through the air whipping past him as everything below him faded away under the great canopy. 

Landing he added the final dash in his great work. 

Magic lingered from the forest floor and shot in pillars of light mashed with organic material, embracing all the foes in ensnaring twine. 

This time Mephsiot came to RIn, meeting the Nephilim on the ground all the while admiring the work. 

“It’s not as big as I wanted, but it’s a good start,” Rin stated looking over Mephisto.

“Mixing concepts like this is very tricky, for as wonderful as a result you have here I can’t bring myself to find fault with it,”

“Oh yeah, do you want them back?”

“In a bit,”

“What?”

“It’s less about leaving them up and more about your craftsmanship,” Mephisto’s breath caught on a gasp as his hand ran with the mass. “I understand now why you wished to continue the fight, these are marvelous,” 

“Oh, thanks.” Rin paused, looking over to Axis who stood waiting for something to occur.

“Oh yes, about him,” Mephisto hummed. “I think it’s about time we tested his limits,”

Axis didn’t have time to react before he felt the ground beneath him depart as he was embraced by similar vines, only these being of a light purple hue, the vines uncoiled leaving Axis to plummet back to earth.

He awoke on the ground, his heartbeat rapidly in his chest as the thin blades of glass teased his fingers as he came to. 

The vines were gone and the servants seemed to have dissipated as well, with only Belial still lingering near the group. 

“Well,” Rin said looking from above. “At least we know he can shapeshift,”

“Judging by the way he slowed just before impact I’d say he also has some elements of levitation as well. But you may need to do more in order to pull it out of him,”

“I will do what I can tomorrow, then we can go from there,”

“Alright,” Mephisto seemed content with Rin’s confrontation. “He doesn’t seem to be all that put together, Rin would you mind carrying him back to?”

“Oh sure, I’ll take him,”

Their voices faded out, leading him to succumb to the stress and fell back into sleep’s cold embrace.


	5. First day antics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first day of school, Axis doesn't make any friends, and nearly makes a few enemies but Rin is there to defuse the situation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning Axis is transphobic/Enbyphobic in this chapter.

A back veil of miss covered his mind as a nagging beep began to sound around his room.

Axis awoke with a groan, pain ringing through his back as he shifted to his side.

He was met with the dreadful gleaming eyes of Rin as he tried to claw himself back into the dark depths of sleep. 

“GO away,” He hissed, throwing the nearest pillow over his face. “And turn that stupid noise box off,”

“Good morning to you as well. It’s also called an alarm, and it’s time for you to get ready,” Rin ripped the pillow from Axis’s thin grasp, leaving him without defense as the licks flicked on. “Classes start at eight and I expect you to be ready to eat at 7. Your uniform is in your closet and the showers are at the end of the hall.”

Shrieking from the sudden light exposure Axis relented, dragging himself to his feet he sorted a change of underwear and fetched a towel before finding the showers in the same condition yesterday. 

The tiles weren’t dirty necessarily but they weren’t the cleanest by any standard, they were far better than most school showers which were a safety hazard to step into.

Every shower deserves an in-depth clean once in and while and this was no exception. If he ever got around to fixing up this room it would be fun to see how shiny he could get the musty brown and white tiles.

Folding his sleepwear he left them on the bench next to his fresh set of clothing. He draped the towel over the barrier between the changing room and showers; carefully he took his time and stepped into the shower, benign careful to avoid any puddles scattered across the slick tile. 

Even for a community shower, the size was astonishing. At least the people could fit in here if you truly pushed it possibly thirty, although how comfortable they were with touching would have to be taken into consideration. 

Not to mention rallying that many people into the shower would be difficult. 

The acoustics in the room were also rather pleasant, as the warm water clicked on the near rain sound of the water meeting the cold floor made for a soothing sound as Axis began to wash away the morning mask waking his mind for preparation for the upcoming day. It was sure to be interesting, the first day was always the easiest but by far the most boring. None of the introductions ever caught his attention, nor were they ever important.

Heaven knows each class will also drill into your mind their expectations and grading policies, which all have flaws that could easily be improved. Only nine more months, then summer break, summer break would be the key of freedom, a three-month brain break to regain the necessary sleep and sanity he lost over the months prior. 

A time to bask in the sun and enjoy the pleasant tone of the world, free from the stress and struggle of day-to-day life.

Then the next year came, restarting the cycle all over again until you are full of useless information and not ready to become an adult. 

But who knows maybe this school would be one in a million, the rare commodity that proved some helpful tips in terms of integrating into the real world. Judging by the prancy uniforms and extravagant size of everything there wasn’t much hope to hold.

Clicking off the faucet, Axis drew the towel and tucked it around his waist before stepping out into the humid room. Slipping on his underclothes, he then reached for his uniform, with a begrudging sigh he fastened the pants, then the white button undershirt. The black coat managed to hug his figure as he buttoned it into place.

It fit nicely like a perfectly tailored glove but the quality and price of the fabric was something Axis was not used to, something this new, something this clean. It was rare he got a new pair of jeans let alone something dress-worthy. 

Replacing this or getting it dry cleaned would be a pain so it was in his best interest o keep it as spotless as possible, the fewer stains the better. The shoes, undercoat, and pants were all nice enough to formally wear. Possibly after these upcoming years had passed he could keep those. The coat would end up being rather useless, along with the tan vest. Neither of them served any real purpose other than identifying students. 

Walking barefoot Axis made his way back into his room just long enough to fold his nightwear and tuck it away; dressing his feet in socks, he finished with slipping on the polished shoes. Walking around the in the black traditional dress shoes was a new experience, they fit nicely with a quarter-inch or so gap between his foot and the toe of the shoe itself.

Clomping down the hall he arrived at the dining hall, steadily Rin chopped away at the prep brewing some sort of breakfast concoction for the two of them to consume. Alien scents fluctuated around the room, the aroma drew Axis in closer.

“Good morning again,” Rin sang as he beamed over at Axis, his swaying as his tail wagged along with his movements. In his buzz of joy, he neglected the soft dance he held in his step.

“You seem to be in a good mood,” Axis took a seat at the table nearest the kitchen window.

“I feel good,” Rin gathered plates from the cabinet and set them on the counter before dishing out the food. “I got a refreshing night’s sleep and today is the start of a new period in our lives. I can’t help but feel excited,”

“Why are you excited for school?”

“Trust me kid there are far worse things than 8 hours of learning, tests, and homework,”

“It seems you forgot what middle school was like,”

“Well, you will be happy knowing that this school is far better than the average middle school. Sure the classes can be hard, but if you pay attention and don’t fall asleep it will be much easier. If you do end up needing help you can also ask me,”

“Sure,” Axis brushed it off with a coy eye roll. “So what are you going to be doing all day while I am at school?”

“Kid, I am going with you,”

“What?”

“Believe it or not Satan has gotten more and more desperate over the years, and he won’t be willing to give up on you so easily. The Vatican is out searching for any more possible spawns. But for the time being, we only know of you, which means you and I are the only compatible options he has. It’s better that I stay in close range at all times to stop any advances he may make.”

“No way in hell! I won’t even have a sliver of a chance to fit in,” Axis froze in his chair, eyes pleading with Rin to make some other decision.

“Oh don’t worry I won’t be in my main form,” Rin set the plates on the window as began to undo the double-knotted tie at the back of his robe.

“Main form?” Axis stood, the stiffness refused to leave him resulting in him walking in a near robotic function. 

“Yeah, I’ll just use my animal form and sit outside the classroom. I could register myself as a support animal and sit by your desk if necessary. But that’s only if Satan gets worse,” Rin tossed the apron across the counter, leaving it for later in the day.

“You have an animal form,” Axis stopped at the window and reached towards the window before faltering. “How do you have an animal form?”

“It’s a demon thing,” Rin left the kitchen only to glide over to the window next to Axis, and retrieve his plate of food. He took his seat across from Axis and waited for the boy to sit before he dared to touch his food.

“Why do I even ask you things?” Axis groaned, stepping around the chairs that blocked his way.

“Because you are interested,”

“Well, no shit,” 

“Your real question is why you think you will get the answer you want,”

“You don’t know what I want.” Axis set his plate down huffing in his rage. 

“I know more than you would like to think, kid,” Rin sighed, wedging the chopsticks between his fingers as Axis took his seat. “Now hurry up classes start in an hour and a half and we aren’t going to be late,”

Something must have occurred in the time from the start to the end of breakfast, but it didn’t feel like it, whatever occurred must have slipped his mind. For Axis finally awoke on the steps of the dorm as Rin fiddled with the keys to the door, twisting the bolts inside the door shut, locking it from any intruders that may have the imbecilic idea to break it.

It’s not like there was anything of worth in the dorms. Just his old battered clothes and food for the coming days. 

Everything of worth was in his arms in from of supplies and books, not to mention the uniform. 

Yet it wasn’t like he could blame Rin, judging by the musk of odors that brushed past him when he first entered it was likely this was the delinquent’s crack house. Some students may try to slip in during the day but they will soon abandon it when they realize it hosts’ inhabitants again.

“Alright,” Rin jangled the keys between his fingers before tucking them away in his pocket. “Are you sure you don’t want any help with the books?’

“I’m fine,” Axis reminded shifting the books in his arms. “Besides it’s not like I will have to carry these all day. It’s only to my locker after all,”

“Suit yourself,” Rin sighed tucking the bento boxes onto the books. “Since you don’t want to be seen either you can carry lunch,”

“Fine,” Grumbling Axis fit the boxes against his arms, avoiding the possibility of dropping them altogether.

With the grudging agreement, Rin let his flames consume him, dialing down his size and form as silky silver fur replaced the skin and sharp pupils replaced the more circular humans ones. Rin stood on all four paws as he began his strut. “Right this way,” he mewed.

Axis kept his mouth from gaping as he followed the frisky feline who trotted alongside him.

“How can you talk?” His breath slid through a raspy tone to prevent a full-out shriek.

“Demon thing,” Rin sang as his tail flowed behind him. “Now hurry up the halls are going to get crowed soon,”

“Why do you insist on rushing me?” His arms began to quiver as the cat continued his speedy trot, dragging Axis to speed up only to be on pace with the feline. 

“Because you aren’t,” Hissing Rin continued to increase his trot, bordering a gallop. “You should be embarrassed that a cat can walk faster than you”

“You aren’t walking you are running,” Axis cried following after the tenacious tom. “And I’m carrying books,”

“There,” Rin tucked his heels under his as he came to a screeching halt. “Now go inside and put your workbooks away,”

“Where exactly are you going,” Panting he adjusted the books once more, subconsciously the books had majority fallen on his right arm creating a rather discomforting imbalance. 

“Inside,” Rin picked up his steady pace as he approached the building. “Although I will take a different route, the floors of the hall are no place for a being my size,”

“Fine,” Through his labored breaths Axis pushed his way to his locker, there were a few bundles of students lingering around the hall waiting for the bell to ring.

“I think we are too early,” Setting his books into the metal cabinet his attention was quickly diverted when a small metal chime ran through his locker. “Hey, what’s that?”

Rin looked down at the small pendant that hung loosely from his neck. “This is my rosary. All exorcists working under the true cross order are rewarded with one once they pass their exams. I am wearing this so all the teachers know it’s me and not some random cat,”

“Can’t you just tell them who you are?”

“No,”

“Why not?’

“Because they can’t understand me,” Rin lifted his paw, leaning in he gave it a small sniff. “to them, I would sound like a normal cat,”

“Then how I can understand you?’

“I am speaking new demonic,” His foot fell as his head retracted, preparing to travel his hind legs sprung into action lifting his lower half. “I’ll teach you about it later,”

Judging by the name it was most likely another demon thing. For as human as he claimed to be he sure had a lot of demon things.

“So off to your first class, Room five_A was it?”

“Yeah, I think so,”

Arriving upon the classroom he found a cheery teacher, name sprawled out in white chalk. He received his seat assignment and settled into his desk. The rest of the students came steadily trickling until the final toll of the morning bell which gave everyone the initiative to pile into the room all at once; they all quite happily crowded the front of the room.

Rin watched the chaos unfold from the safety of outside, he had managed to slip out mostly unnoticed and everyone was far too busy rushing to their class that they quickly overlooked him. After all who would notice a silvery cat against the glare of a window.

It’s also not uncommon to see a few tabbies roaming the campus, they do a good job of pest control so no one seems to raise any fuss over them.

The first class or so went nearly the same, the minutes tripped over the seconds as they raced to lap around the clock. The minutes were doomed to lose for entirety as the seconds would also tick faster, but the nanoseconds would always be faster than them so what was the point of running if someone was faster?

The hour hand always took its time, walking happily throughout the day, odd to see how quickly it spins without you even noticing it. While you watch it freezes but when you let it go it runs farther than you could ever imagine.

How did they measure their years before years were defined? 

Early life, early humans, early demons even they surely only knew as much as humans… Were demons around at that point. The demon kings rose around some time near the dawn of civilization. So they must have started measuring time by human measurements, they could have assisted humans in figuring out time…

Maybe Rin would know, he knew a lot of things in terms of demon things.

A horrid ring crossed his ears indicating the passing of the period. Rubbing the sharp pain from his ears he collected his things and made it to his locker to get ready for his coming class.

It was the third class when something of interest finally arose.

Homebuilding oddly enough wasn’t a traditional class, nor was it very popular. The latter seemed to make more sense, who would ever want to learn how to cook or sew when you are rich enough to pay people to do it for you. Regardless, it should be somewhere in the school curriculum to teach people how to survive on their own in terms of cooking, taxes, driving. 

The course also seemed to attract a rather wide variety of students in terms of gender. A few males, balanced out by a dash of girls and a small picking of students non conforming to dress code or in between. 

For the most part, it appeared to be a quaint little class run by the very same tailor who supplied his uniform. The class began with everyone finding their own places among the room, a few students tucked themselves against the wall, some perched by the windows. Axis found the first spot his eyes laid on, a seat near the window but more towards the middle of class, the natural light would have been in the room had been ranged any differently.

Enough windows surrounded the side walls to create a constant flow that never dissipated or died in any given spot. Yet the windows never felt out of place, they blended across the walls creating a landscape of possibilities on a canvas of glass.

“Hi,” There it sat.

This student wasn’t wearing the male or female uniform, buzzing irritation through Axis. Not only was this thing infringing on his space but it also was a mess to look at. It had long silky hair that was tied together in a sloppy bun on its head a few patches hung loose falling onto the pink sweater it worse around its shoulders.

“What are you,” Axis moved his books closer to his chest. “And why are you sitting here?”

“You looked lonely and I want a place to work, is that alright with you?”

“You didn’t answer my question,”

“You aren’t asking the right questions,”

“I meant what I said. What are you?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Would I be asking if it was?”

It was sure annoying. 

“Other than being human, I am Alex. My pronouns are she/her or they/them. I am fine with either,” Alex held out a hand across the table, waiting for the appropriate response from Axis.

“Why would I ever touch a thing like you?” Sneering Axis set his book down, creating a barrier between himself and his supposed threat.

“I was only being polite,” Alex retracted their hand, tucking it away in their pockets.

“I know what you really are,”

“You haven’t even met me,”

“Alright class,” The tailor spoke over the soft chatter of the class. “I hope you had enough time to introduce yourself to your classmates,”

The teacher had the gall to force an activity chart upon each table group, requiring equal participation between the two tablemates.

From then on it was counting seconds till the bell rang.

There wasn’t anything special about Aerial or whatever its name was. Just a hollow shell of a real person pretending to be something.

The sound of the bell came about once more, the blaring ring wasn’t as painful as it had once been.

Rin trailed Axis as he found his next class, slipping past the closing door he burrowed on the metal grate under Axis’s chosen desk. The silver feline let his tail brush the floor, the bristles of his fur made a loud contrast to the stone grey floors.

Barely anyone noticed the small feline as they took their seats. A level of nuance settled into Rin’s gut, this place was oddly familiar with the cold unforgiving floors. The same wooden pillars seeming to hold the whole room together.

But yet the pillars look more decorative now, had this building been refurbished? Ever since he became a more prominent figure in the order more exorcists have been joining, but to think Mephisto got enough funds to redo this corridor or that he would put in the effort to redo the corridor is shocking.

He was perfectly fine leaving this place as a dump when Yukio taught, maybe he has higher stranders for new recruits, maybe since they have more than a year to become exorcists they get more time to study and pass their exams.

Knowing this school they probably have a chance to grow into their Meisters better, become more specialized and get a chance to explore their abilities. As much as he wished for things to have been different Rin couldn’t deny he was a positive change from the hardships he faced. 

Who knows maybe even Axis could be one of those changes, once you reach the bottom you can only go up. 

He was behaving well enough in class, for the most part, he minded his manors, called teachers by their professional title, and kept his temper in check. It was sad to see Axis getting aggressive with Alex, she has the potential to be a good friend. 

Deprogramming his bitter nature and disgusting assumptions will take some time. Alex could prove to be a helpful force in that journey. 

“Welcome pages,” The teacher’s voice bounded about the room. “I am very happy to announce that this class is looking to be one of the most promising out of many. This year 21 students in total have joined our program with a few more predicted to join in the second semester. I know in this very room sit the potential for the next Arch Knight, maybe even Paladin,”

It seems they even got a teacher who was passionate about teaching; oh how the times had changed. 

But Rin couldn’t help but wonder how much was an act and how much was true in his little performance. 

After all, Takara is a surname he only ever saw in one other place. 

“I am Mr. Takara, I will be teaching your class this year. Let’s go around and introduce ourselves! State your name and your ideal miser Mr. Suguro could you start us off?”

Rin’s ear perked up as the name ran by him. It had been a while since he last visited them, but it couldn’t have been that long.

He looked nearly identical to his Father after his blonde hair faded of course. His hair was some derivative of black, although the hues indicated a hint of purple buried in his roots. 

“I am Tatsuki Suguro and I wish to become an Aria,” He sat up straight in his chair as he spoke, there wasn't a falter in his voice. It was a far cry from the snotty little kid Rin knew so well.

“Hello I am Uta Miwa, I am not sure what I want to be just yet,” Uta was bold and proud of her words, willingness clung to her movement as her nails tapped across the desk.

Alex was next they stood to address the entire class, though her arms stayed steady by her side, “I am Alex, I want to explore my options before settling into one course,”

Takara seemed to be delighted by that answer, shedding a smile to Alex. The student shared the smile sending the joy back. Takara fidgeted with a small coin-like medallion before nodding onto the next student.

“I am Aoi Godaiin, and I don’t know yet either,” The boy kept his voice loud enough to hear but nothing above what was necessary, his thumbs orbited around each other as the rest of his fingers were intertwined. 

“My name is Mio Paku,” Her skirt furled out across her legs as she sat cross-legged on the chair. “And I hope I can be a tamer,”

“And you Yamato ?” Takara’s attention fell on the boy huddled in the corner of the room, he appeared in a daze, unaffected and unmoved as his pencil moved into the grain of the wood, slowly gnawing away at the structure.

“I don’t have a preference,” The boy continued to disgrace the table.

“Well then,” Hope fled from his voice as He finally came to face Axis. “What about you?”

“I’m not here to make friends, so why should I even bother with answering?” Snapping Axis pushed his seat further away from his desk only to perch his `foot on the surface.

Tatsuki’s chair fell from his as he stood, abruptly throwing his hands on the desk he caught everyone’s attention. “You should address him by sir, he is our teacher and deserves respect,”

“Oh yeah?” Axis scoffed, The scrawny thing was no more of a threat than a stick man. “Says who?”

“Says me,” 

“Oh no, I am so scared the goody-two-shoes wants to fight,” Three relieving pops reached his neck as he bent it far enough.

“Tatsuki, sit down, he’s not worth it,” Uta grabbed the boy’s sleeve, pulling back to his desk.

“Yeah that's right, listen to your master you pet,” A sharp pain nipped at Axis’s heel as Rin’s claws met the uncovered skin. Three crimson lines became prominent against his fair skin as Axis drew his right back with his left still steady on the desk. “Hey Stop that,” Axis whined getting a feral hiss from the feline covered by the safety of the dark. 

“I am not a pet,” 

“Tatsuki, sit!”

“Shut up Uta,”

“Aw look the puppy’s not obeying,” Axis cooed, setting both of his feet down before shifting to watch the commission begin to boil. “How sad,”

“Fight!” Yamato yelled getting a flush from Tatsuki.

“Everyone please just calm down,” Alex’s voice was next to come across the room.

“Or what princess?” 

“Yeah, bitch whatcha going to do bout it?”

The voices in the room began to rise to a voluminous clattered as argument burst out between the factions. 

“Class, please settle down,” Takara’s cries were useless against the sea of noise.

The raw anger and chaos began to swell threatening to shatter a rather vital barrier, open that would be better sealed than left cracked open. The barrier more importantly that Axis has between his mind and the claws of the unnamed. 

Mephisto’s charms could only repel so many demons, it was best to not risk breaking either at this point. Considering it would have reached the cursed demon of Axis’s current locale. 

Rin stumbled on his paws as he tried to avoid the shoes that threatened to crush him. 

It could not be said that exorcising demons was easier.

At least he could expel demons from their hosts, their emotional weakness was to his advantage. 

Clawing his way up to the wooden desk, he finally sat at attention.

It only took a mew to bring the emotions to a waning halt.

Once everyone was confused by his sudden appearance he let his flames embrace him once more. 

The fire shaped his new form, his real form if you would. His arms were the first to form with legs and torso following the transformation. Lastly came the finer details of his clothing and face.

His sapphire eyes glittered in the pale light of the hanging lamps, his hair shimmered as beames shot down from the sun, highlighting the ethereal beautify of the being before them.

“Now class let’s all settle back down and introduce each other properly. I will begin. My Name is Rin Okumura, Arch knight, before I became an arch knight I was rewarded with the title of first upper-class exorcist. I am open to questions, so who is willing to ask first?”

Mouths were left hanging as eyes bulged, and heads hung in shame. Taking their seats barely anyone dared to mutter even the most simple of questions.

It wasn’t surprising to not receive any answers so soon but yet it still managed to be disappointing. 

“Nothing? Alright, then Yamato do you have any questions,”

“Yes, s-sir. Is it true that on the blood night you single-handedly took on three demon kings and made it out without a scratch?”

“I suppose you could say I made it out with any physical injuries. So yes,” 

Soon questions began to flurry in some of his lesser journeys, some of his mere daily life, and others about his exorcist life as a whole. Soon the environment became but a tame serenity. 

“Thank you, Mr. Okumura,” Takara faced the class once more, having regained his face of glee. “So then class It seems you are all familiar with him. I think you will also be glad to know that your director has requested his help for teaching a few of the units this year, specifically the ones over the demons kings. You should also be glad to know that because of Mr. Okumura's dedicated work we have been able to increase our knowledge of demons and exorcisms as a whole,”

“Yeah sorry about that,” Laughing his hands came to pat his legs that dangle from the desk. “they are going to make you memorize it, but I promise you it’s far more interesting than learning about fifty different demon repelling herbs, which once an immunity is built up are rendered useless,”

“I as well as the other processors here would love to hear you give a lecture over your studies and organization some time,” Takara chimed in.

“Oh sure, I’ll see if or when I can fit one in,”

“Really?”

“Of course, if you're going to hear it from anyone it’s best to be me,” Rin hopped off the desk and sauntered over to the door. “Although I do need to have a talk with one of your students, if that’s alright,”

“Of course,” Takara bowed his head as he motioned to the class.

“Thanks,” Rin sent a grin over his shoulders as Axis drew himself up from his desk.

The hall was deadly silent, only the reverberation of steps resonated along the halls.

“Alright Axis,” Rin stopped once they got far enough away from the classroom doors. “I don’t think I need to tell you how I felt about what just occurred,”

“This happens every time I go to school. It always ends up like this,” Axis stepped away, leaning against the wall as he shrunk to the floor. “Why were you expecting anything different? You read my record,”

“Believe it or not you can change,” 

“Can I? Every time I try nothing comes out of it, I don’t even care about being normal anymore. I can never fit in!”

“Never say never, Kid.” Rin inched closer, extending a hand to place on Axis’s shoulder. “Trust me I know you can change, all the cards are in play. You just need to make the right move.”

“Are they really,” Sneering Axis batted his hand away. “Everything I have ever tried to do comes crumbling down in one day. Everyone is so fragile. No one cared to stay once they see the worst sides of me. I don’t care about this stupid school, and I don’t care about behaving,”

“Just because you don’t care doesn't mean this won’t affect others,” Rin’s hand came to his side as he took a seat in front of Axis.

“How the hell would you know that You’re an exorcist top of your class, not a single being on this godforsaken planet hates you,” Axis ducked his head into his arms, crushing his eyes shut to block any notion of tears. “You are a fucking fairytale princess,”

“Believe it or not but I wasn’t as good as you think.”

“Bullshit,” Axis sniffled through his arms. “You graduated top of the exorcist program and three years early and You began taking on demon kings ever since you became an exorcist. You are perfect,”

“No, My brother was the perfect one, an honors student always making straight As, getting scholarships practically handed to him. I was the delinquent, always causing issues and getting in trouble, skipping school, and starting fights. My father died before he could see me amount to anything. I would have let myself die if not for the promise that I would kill the bloody bastard who took away the only person who ever loved me.”

“What are you saying?” Blinking Axis’s head lifted, tear tracks burned into his cheeks.

“What you need Axis is a goal, something to depend on. At the moment I would suggest finding a friend. You may hate them but I suggest Alex, they won’t be too quick to turn,”

“And what if you’re wrong?”

“If I am wrong then you will be right and you may continue to wallow in your own self-pity.” Rin stood. “Now let's get going. We need to avoid the rush,”


	6. first day antics part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is shorter than normal but seeing as how the last chapter was so long I hope it makes up for it.

"RRRRRRrrrAAAAAA this isn't working," Axis's fist collided with the floor as rapid panting engrossed his throat.

"Throwing a fit isn't going to help anything Axis," Rin stood stagnant in the corner, tail swaying threatening to bash itself against the wall as the speed steadily grew. "I need you to relax and focus,"

"I can't! I can't! I can't! I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't I can't I can't," His hands came to his hair tugging at the roots daring them to give way from their deep routes within his scalp "I can't do it, I can't. It's not working, It's not working,"

"Axis breath in,"

"Shut up. SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP. THAT'S NOT FUCKING HELPING," The Nephilim was on the verge of tears once more as six nails clawed under his skin, skipping on his skull and threatening to puncture the bone.

Rin drew Axis up from his collar, letting the boy fumble to find his footing. "Axis," He met the youth's frantic eyes. "Calm down,"

Axis undid his hands only to wrap them around Rin's, the very same that was still fastened around his collar. "Nothings working,"

"Then it seems we need to practice this before moving on," Rin's thumb circled the trim on the collar as he spoke.

"But you promised we would train today," Claws pointed inward, his hands began to mirror the fragment stress that collided with his more sensible mind.

"This is part of your training Axis. If you can't get yourself calm then we can't make any denoting progress," Minding his words Rin tiptoed around his phrasing to keep from cracking the shell-like structure Axis had around his heart.

"Well, breathing isn't doing anything. Do you have any other ideas?" Sincerity, it was odd to hear it in the boys' voice but comforting to hear.

"I have a few ideas," nodding Rin began to ponder. "Do you have an object that brings you comfort? Or a scent or memory that can console you?"

"No,"

"What about a place?"

"I-," Tears threaten to trickle in his eyes once more. "No,"

"Alright," Rin sighed, releasing his hold on the coat. "Well, then all I can say is try working on breathing and calming your thoughts. Thinking of something peaceful or something that makes you comfortable."

"What? That's it? That's all you have?" Cracks of furry began to nuzzle into Axis as he stood.

"What else do you want me to stay?" Rin's head shook softly. "It's up to you to control yourself,"

"You are supposed to train me, not me, you." Jabbing his finger at the open air, it felt foolish acting so childishly. What else was there to do? Nothing made sense, nothing was working. Everything was broken, unfixable, unloveable.

"And as your trainer, I am telling you to find a way to curb your temper," Rin's shoulder rose as his tail froze. "I can't control your emotions; only you can do that,"

"Yeah? well, nothing you have suggested has worked,"

"I understand how you feel-,"

"Do you? You keep acting as if you know me, but you are wrong! You are always wrong! You nothing about me and I know nothing about you. We are strangers, stop acting like we are anything more,"

Time seemed to freeze around them as the final words flew from his mouth.

Axis recoiled, ears falling a twinge as the guilt piled in. He always ended up doing stuff like this, throwing others away disregarding them. It worked for a while; how much longer could it continue to work? Rin wasn't leaving, he wasn't going to one day decided to leave and abandon him for the next family to scoop up.

Fear was the next to fall over him as Rin refused to respond. He scooted back a few steps to add distance between himself and whatever impending punishment the demonic whims pushed Rin into providing.

He already knew better than to evoke the monster and yet he challenged the beast directly.

Rin's feet stayed planted, his expression a hollow mold holding no sign of life or emotion. His breaths barely audible, his chest hardly moved and his eyes seemed to go on unblinking. Inhumane, unnatural, haunted, cursed; none of them came close to dread embracing Axis.

"Your right, I don't know you. But do you know who you even are? Can you say you know your real self?" His eyes brows lifted bridging with it a cherishing sparkle. "I wonder, how long has your real self been suppressed to keep your feelings safe. How long since you lived as yourself, not as how others see you?"

He wasn't hiding, was he?

His pencil scraped across the paper as he scribbled his name on the dotted line fixed at the upper right-hand side of the paper. His print was legible and that's all that counted to him anyway. Regardless if he could read the notes he took or not the teachers always made sure to drill concepts into his mind.

Rin sat on the rustic wooden bench his tail warped around the beams supporting the backing. His paws lingered on the ledge adjacent to the windowpane; his little face framed by the glass. To the point fluffed tips of his ears, to the untangled medium net lengthed fur across his body nothing was astray.

The only thing to attach suspicion was the human-like intelligence that spurred Rin to stalk Axis.

Of course, sitting out in the open attracted a spot of unwanted attention in the form of a rather persistent band of girls.

He could deal with petting but their fatal mistake was trying to pick him up and carry him away. It only took a few swipes and yowls to fend them off. It was rather deserved considering they were dumb into to attempt taking a feral cat into the dorms.

He barely even drew a drop of blood, regardless it got them to scatter.

As their startled wails descended into the marble halls, a small schnauzer appeared from around the corner rosary dangling as it shifted around the blinding pink polka-dotted scarf.

Panting the dog froze at the front of the bench, looking between the ground and wooden platform. Judging the jumping distance.

"Well looks who's out and about," Rin mewed, tail unraveling as his paws came down from the ledge and landed on the bench seat. "What brought about such a momentous occasion?"

"Well I wish to discuss Axis and his progression so far," Mephisto prepared to jump, his hind legs coming to a stressed straight angel as his paws scooted into his chest. His small tail wove behind him as a precision.

"You won't make it," Meowing Rin shifted to a relaxing puddle.

"I will now move so I can have space to jump up there," Mephisto barked, shifting his front paw to an elevation position as the other stated planted on the ground.

"Oh, so the king of space and time can't make the jump? I can't believe it," Scoffing Rin's ear flicked to search for any discordant noise coming from the classroom.

"Fine then," Snarling Mephisto leaped only to come crashing to the floor as Rin's clawed forceful bats sent the dog back to the ground.

The dog cried in shock as his body met the pavement, whimpering sounded through his throat as he stood. "What the hell?"

"Know your place mutt,"

"you have quite the nerve-,"

"I can't understand why you came to check-in. It just doesn't make sense, it's only been a day. You can't honestly expect a significant change in such a minuscule amount of time. Unless you were lying," Rin stood and began to brush along the sides of the bench as purrs faded into his voice.

"I don't understand why you are making this more difficult than it needs to be," Mephisto settled on the bench as the familiar amethyst smoke accompanied him. "I asked the question I wanted answering,"

"Look for yourself, he's in class right now," Licking his paw Rin motion to the window with the tilt of his head.

Stretching his stalky body across reprehensibly a paw came to the strip of wood, elevating his stance.

Rin placed his paws next to Mephisto's as they both peered into the window. Axis sat in the seat, watching the teacher diligently searching for more instructions regarding the pastel paper laid out in front of him.

"See," Rin purred with pride, "No change,"

"You are mistaken," Mephisto unperched and took a seat. "That's a rather significant shift,"

"He had a small tantrum earlier, but he is calm now. He knows how to behave and with me watching him he knows better than to get in a fight,"

"Well, I supposed we will just have to see how long he can keep that up,"

"I suppose we will," Rin slumped down meeting Mpehisto's line of sight as he prissy crossed his paws, his tail came to rest along his legs that tucked under his belly; safety hidden by his under scruff.

"I can't help but be curious Rin, what have you been up to for the past few years?"

"My declassified missions are open to anyone who can read,"

"I'm not talking about your missions, everyone knows about your daring and exhilarating battles. I am wondering about your downtime, you haven't paid me your familiar visit in a near half-decade. He truly has missed you,"

"I know, but I have chosen to take most all my off time to rest or visit my mortal friends while they still have life,"

"I can't say I'm happy to see you admit their mortality but it is a relief," Mephisto sunk down in a relaxing stance, his paws stretching out a whisker away from Rin's.

"Death is not something to shy away from. It's a part of life, to deny its involvement would be to deny life itself," Rin set his head down as his ear pressed against his head.

"Wisdom truly has seeped into you," Mephisto lamented tucking a paw under his fluffy midsection.

Rin did not share the courtesy of small talk as his lids came over his eyes. It was a pleasant day, a few clouds meandering in the sky, adding breaks of well-deserved shade against the burning raging sun.

Fall was on the horizon threatening the green trees to fade to a copper once the cold shock swept in. But for the moment the glittering green leaves, the vibrant bark, glowing hues of the delicate flowers scattered about the campus; It could all stay, all live happily and freely.

It was bound to come, the snow, the ice, the winter; the daunting fresh bursts of air were a constant reminder of the destiny of the seasons.

Regardless summer could stay, for now, it could linger here for as long as it pleased.

The boiling heat of the sun did get annoying at times but it did make the cold seduction of shadows and trees all the more desirable. It was saddening to see how others disregard the beauty of each season, each change bringing about steady consequences, both bad and good balancing out.

The trees began to quiver as the wind passed through the branches, dragging a single blooming leaf from its branch only to land on Rin's snout. Whispers of the past flashed to the front of his mind, shocking the feline to an upstanding position as the leaf fluttered away, caught in the breeze once more.

Mephisto's head shot up from where he had it resting. "Don't do that," Mephisto's voice shifted to a rash ruff as he scolded Rin for the starling action he performed.

"I think I need a walk," Reflexively RIn's head shook away his creeping thoughts. "Can you watch Axis for a bit?"

"Where exactly do you plan on going?" Mephisto scoffed, crossing legs as RIn had done before.

"Just a lap around the court, I will be out of earshot and I don't like the thought of such a gaping distance between me and Axis. I know it won't make much of a difference but on the off chance, it does I want you here to prevent something from occurring," Stretching his hind legs out Rin puffed his chest out.

"Fine," Mephisto set his head down to regain his comfort. "Don't take too long,"

"Thanks," Rin jumped down on the paved path before strutting over to the grassy patches.

The damp leaves mealed around his paws, the rough bark helped to soothe the urging desire of physical affection that began to hinder parts of his mind. Through this small form, things always managed to look and feel different. Regardless he refused to go near the insult to cats that were wet food.

A stenchy disrespectful splatter of the mess that was marketed as some golden elixir for felines.

Catnip was understandable and tolerable. It was a gift to catkind given by the earth, but the dried kibble flakes aren't any better than wet food in his mind.

If snakes got mice then surely cats deserved live prey as well. Their predatory instinct was still hammered in place, and the deceased lizards brought to owners weren't gifts but claim stakes to what they saw as their homes.

The large oak that guarded the yard did serve as a rather nice resting place in years past. Given the time he would have to visit it again.

The idea was nice, a sun guarded nap under the canopy of branches soon followed the calling of the bells signaling the end of yet another class.

Dipping his head Rin paced back over to the bench, recalling Mephisto of his duties and tracking Axis through the halls to his final class.

Eighth period wasn't significant, it was the most docile class, the teacher just talked about himself the entire time. The only time they stopped to take attendance which he did in the most traditional way; calling out names and marking them present.

Axis struggled to stay interested as Rin took the time to groom himself. Rin was able to make five passes with his tongue alone before the teacher finally shut his mouth.

It was bizarre why adults became so disrupted when they hear how bored students got, especially when narcissists like this run the classes. It was grade level so it was to be expected, regardless teachers should only become a teacher because they wish to teach.

"I can't wait to get back home," Axis sighed, content dripping from his words.

"We aren't going home quite yet,"

"What?" Axis turned to the feline. "Why?"

"I am not going to let you be on bad terms with your teachers, especially your exorcist teachers. Besides, I need to talk with Mr. Takara about a few things regarding the curriculum this year,"

"Well don't expect a real apology. I'm not sorry,"

"I never asked for an apology. Besides, words can only go so far. I am hoping you can prove it to yourself and others that you can be good,"

"Sure,"

"Keep rolling your eyes so hard and they may just fall out," Rin hissed, taking a sharp corner away from Axis.

"You're going the wrong way," Hidden by a fake caught and a hand his smile still shone through.

"No, you are," Rin giggled, picking up his speedy trot from before.

"Hey wait up," Whining Axis began to pick up speed after the cat.

It was a brief jog, paws, and feet clashing against the pavement before ducking off into an alleyway, an old oak door standing at the end. It looked far too old to match the academy and stone accompanied the time period of the door.

Signs of decay and erosion were apparent in the gruff texture of the stone, and the raggedy state of the door.

"Are you sure this place is safe?"

"Yes, It's a hidden entrance of sorts, now I would appreciate it if you open the door,"

"Would it kill you to be human?" Grubling Axis hopped over the small concrete steps and his hands slid to the doorknob, cracking it open slightly to peek inside.

"Scared?" Rin whistled into the boy's ear.

"NO," His cries came to a crescendo as echoed in the dark corridor as Rin's smile gleamed with delight.

"Come on scaredy-cat, it's not much further," Rin chuckled, walking past Axis as his hands drifted by his waist.

"I'm not the cat you are,"

Rin stared down at his body. "No, I'm pretty sure I changed back,"

"er- You know what I mean,"

A second door indented into the wall harboring a small unkempt habitat; a few dust bunnies and coal tars resided in the empty space. Abandoned couldn't even begin to describe it.

"And here I was thinking the old dorms was the dirtiest place," Axis coughed; arm coming to cover his nose.

"This was old and dirty even when I was here," Rin took in the sense before going to the next door and sliding it open. A line of residue marked where the room ended and the great halls began, fresh carpet, fresh tile, everything wiped and shined to perfection.

This was recognizable, the same hall as before, same carpet, same new building smell.

"Ah, this is better,"

"It is nice," The look was far better than the outdated clash of jade green against vibrant red and the dreadful coloration of the wood. "I always wondered how long it would be until he redid this section of the school,"

"Wait if they redid all of this, why did they keep that so... broken?" The door hung off its hinges as Rin shut it back in place.

"I don't really know about that, but I have a feeling it has something to do with how long it has been here," Rin sighed, dusting his hands of the residue. "or maybe they just haven't gotten around to using it,"

"This school just keeps getting weirder and weirder,"

Only if he knew.

The room lingered in the same place as before, though this time Alex was lingering near the door.

"Mr. Okumura," Her breath caught as she reclined against the wall

"Hello, Alex was it?" Rin greeted cheerily as Axis tried to duck away.

"Yes sir," They nodded echoing the smile Rin has.

Rin's tail began to careen "What are you doing here after school?"

"I'm waiting for my friend She wanted to ask a few questions about the curriculum," She motioned to the door with a stray thumb.

"I see, did they say anything about going in?"

"Oh, no sir, I got bored and left the room. They should be ok with you going in,"

"Thank you, Alex,"

"Of course Sir,"

Twisting the knob Rin froze and craned his head over to Axis who waited on his heels.

"Oh, you won't mind if I go in alone, will you? It will only be a few minutes, you don't mind waiting do you?"

Spasming his attention between Rin and Alex he begrudgingly nodded letting Rin enter the room alone.

Awkward wasn't the right word for this, Karam? Maybe even cruel fate, but he had endured worse. This thing was the least of his worries.

"Your half-demon aren't you," Alex tapped their nails against the black binder wedged between her arms.

"Excuse me?"

"Don't worry I'm not going to tell anyone. I had a feeling since the first time I saw you, not to mention how Mr. Okumura is always at your side or near you. Also the effect you had on the room. I have seen it enough to recognize it,"

"You don't know what you're talking about,"

"Don't do that, gaslighting isn't going to help you. I just wanted to tell you to be careful. For as inclusive as this school can be rather harsh when it comes to Nephilim's. Especially other students. Of course, Rin being around will prevent them from trying anything but making and keeping friends will be... hard when or if your secret gets leaked,"

How did sh-

No, it wasn't possible, he was careful.

He didn't have the exaggerated pointy ears, the fangs, or even the tail, he was human.

Or at least, looked human.

So much of life, he was human, just a human boy abandoned by the world, tossed from home to home.

He was different the entire time, but of course, he was, everyone is different. No one ever thinks it's going to be them until it is.

"If you do need someone, I am here, ok?"

"Whatever,"

"I'm serious,"

"Yeah, sure you, don't you think I haven't heard this before? I'll be there for you. You can trust me. I won't tell anyone I promise," his voice shifted to an apish tone, crowing out the lies that spun out of so-called "friends" of the past. "Pinky swears, crossed hearts and eyes can only get you so far. Bedsides you haven't done a single thing to prove your liability,"

"Why do I even try with people like you," Alex's grip became stone against her binder, teeth-gritting the enamel nearly shrieked.

"I thought I wasn't human,"

Stamping her foot, irritation withered through them, Her lips lifted imitative of a threat.

Ripe snickers flicker through Axis as he stared down his opponent. "Oh wow," His laughter short-circuited for a few roughly breaths as he spoke. "I am sooo scared right now,"

"I can't understand why Mr. Okumura is wasting his time, at this rate you'll never amount to anything."

The door swung open, scooting Axis against the wall to avoid injury.

"Well thank you for your time Mr. Takara, and for yours Mio. I look forward to speaking with both of you again," Rin bowed his head to the two, Mio scooted over to Alex while Takara hung in the doorway.

"Thank you, Sir, for letting me interview you," Mio smiled, shuffling the few pages of notes she collected.

"Of course, I am always delighted to discuss my organization and plans going forward,"

"Mio what I have told you about harassing others?"

"It wasn't harassment! Besides what shame is there in knowledge,"

"Said the stalker,"

"H-hey stalking is different than the pursuit of knowledge," Mio chipped hugging the papers to her chest. "Besides he said it was ok,"

"Alright well, I will be off... Hey, where is Axis?" Sweeping the hall Rin found no traces of the boy.

"Alex what did you do with him,"

"I didn't do anything!" Their hand came to came to their chest as a small huff left her lips. "He's behind the door,"

"Yeah, thanks for noticing," Axis grubling pushing the wooden slab away.

"Are you alright?" Not a single scruff or scuff was on him, regardless Rin still inspected the boy.

"I'm fine, I managed to avoid being hit. No thanks to you," Axis pushed away Rin's hands as he fixed his collar.

"Well, it's not like I told you to stand in front of the doorway," Rin's tail formed a sloping 90-degree angle as his lips pressed into a fine line.

"You told me to stay so I did,"

"Who's the dog now," Alex snickered as a gasping refrain came from Mio.

"Can't we go back to the dorms now? I'm starving," Complaining over took Axis once more.

"Only one more trip, then we can go back," Rin spun on heels and began his walk back to the dorms.

"Finally," Axis groaned following diligently after Rin.

The sun dragged across the sky as it relented closer and closer to its next destination with the same plastered determination that came with every day. The atmospheric ambiance slithered over the horizon, bouncing glowing light pink and purple hues of the reflections of polished marble.

The hues of umber and olive highlighted with jade and hickory as the leaves shook in the supple breeze. The soft plump ovals of the trimmed hedges and coordinated rows of bushes upon bushes. Park benches sat open as everyone collected towards the front of the school, in perfect view of the state-of-the-art cameras.

Students gather in packs, some discussing dinner, others chattering about their day, a few clatters sat in silence, just mesmerized by the day and calm tone of routine life.

It was easy to overlook why students delved so deeply into gossip, but when every part of your life is preplanned you might as well spin narratives of those around you. When all individuality is drained from you, find someone else to drain from to make yourself feel full. A steep-sloped, dangerous mindset but one some cling to for safety.

Throwing darts at air balloons seems all fun until you pop your own or someone does it for you. It's just best to stay on the ground at that rate. You won't be soaring in the clouds but you won't be plummeting to your death either.

Those who put their necks on the chopping block risk the fall all for the gain, and that's for them to do.

Regardless it was not a ploy Rin could suggest to anyone. It was never worth it.

For all the steady changes the brick fences around the school didn't seem to wave by the effects of time, the stone did not remain dormant as a familiar black cat sidhe slept to his heart's content.

"Mr. Okumura," The guards lit at his presence. "It has been far too long,"

"Indeed it has. I believe you know who I am here for?"

The whispered from before lingered in the airy backbone of Rin's dreamscape. A false connection or static message from one of the goddesses, either way, it was hard to tell.

"Go say hi, I will go investigate," His demon soothed leaving the joint consciousness they shared.

Parrot green eyes locked onto the Arch knight as the midnight fur brushed along the grey stone, his white underbelly was littered with dust and dirt mucking it to off grey. The sun reflected off the shiny coat creating a dotted sheen of light. There he was, Kuro; an echo of Rin's past slacking on the job.

"R-rin?"

"Hi, Kuro,"

"You are back! I knew you would be back," The sidhe pounced onto its former master with jubilee filling his heart.

Rin caught the demonic cat in his hands, holding him an inch or so away from his face as Kuro's nose grazed his own.

"I missed you," purring rose from Kuro as he melted into Rin's hold like a summer kitten.

"I missed you too Kuro. Hey, what do you say about going back to the dorms and staying with us for tonight?"

"Really?" Gems glittered in his eyes as Kuro's tail began to wave in adjacent motions.

"Yes, really, and maybe a bath,"

"No bath, only dinner,"

"How about this, A bath and I make fish,"

"Fine, then you have to make Salmon,"

"Deal!"

The old dorms, although refurbished, were just as they always were, recognizable by the fine dents Amaimon's magic had skipped over. Kuro settled into his regular resting spot a stray pillow tucked away in the kitchen where Kuro could keep Rin company as he began to set the skillets onto the path of perfection.

His dampened fur did falter his mood but the final result of a rather delectable meal made it all worth it.


End file.
